Making Fools of Us
by Wrendsor
Summary: Percy had thought he was done. After the war against Gaea and surviving the pits of hell, he was perfectly fine with putting his past behind him so that he could build a future with Annabeth. Apparently the Fates had other ideas, as he soon found himself back at the beginning. Meanwhile, a twelve-year-old finds himself vaulted into the future where nothing is as it used to be.
1. I Get Vacuumed into Space

**A/N: Hello, everyone! I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and it kept bugging me until I finally got around to writing it. Because I already have another fic in the works, this one will probably not be updated regularly, but never fear! This will not be shoved into a corner to collect dust, but just expect irregular updates. Anyway, on to the story! It takes places after BoO (more specifically, after the PJ/KC crossover, though you don't have to read those to understand, because I probably won't reverence it often).**

 **DISCLAIMER: I am not a middle-aged man living in Boston who is writing yet another Percy Jackson series. Sorry to disappoint.**

* * *

 _._

 _"Time is making fools of us again." ~JK Rowling_

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* * *

Percy the Younger

 **Annabeth, Grover, and I had just gotten back** from our quest to return Zeus's lightning bolt and save the world. We were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke's failed trip to the Hesperides, so of course everybody was treating us as if we'd won a reality-TV contest.

According to camp tradition, we wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honor. Personally, I could have done without the plant crown, because it kept falling in my eyes and made my head itch, but the food was awesome. I stuffed myself with barbeque and blue coke.

We then led a procession down to the bonfire, where we got to burn the burial shrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence. I didn't get this tradition either, because it felt more to me like they had doubted that we'd succeed and were planning our funerals instead of believing that we'd return. But, you know, tradition and all that.

Annabeth's shroud was really beautiful—gray silk with reddish-purple embroidered owls. Flames licked up its length as Annabeth's torch made contact with the fabric, causing smoke to bellow up in our faces.

"It's a shame not to bury you in that." I joked, pushing the wreath out of my eyes again.

"Shut up," she replied before elbowing me in the gut. Her lip was slightly curled up though, so maybe she thought it was a nice shroud too. Her mom was the goddess of weaving after all; it was probably a requirement to be appreciative of all woven crafts, or something like that.

Next, it was my turn to burn my shroud. Being the son of Poseidon, I didn't have any cabinmates, so the Ares cabin had _oh so helpfully_ volunteered to make my shroud. They'd taken an old bed sheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER was painted really big in the middle.

It was fun to watch that go up in flames.

Once both shrouds had been successfully turned to ash, Apollo's cabin led a sing-along and handed out s'mores. I was surrounded by my old Hermes cabinmates, Annabeth's friends from Athena, and Grover's satyr buddies, who were admiring his brand-new searcher's license he'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders. Annabeth bumped my arm, getting my attention. She smiled at me, her normally serious gray eyes bright with happiness and her hair flickering golden in the fire-light. I smiled at her, bumping her back.

I'm not sure I'd ever felt as happy as I did at that moment. I'd finally found a family, people who cared about me and thought I'd done something right. I had friends for the first time in my life, kids who were just like me. I felt accepted, like I had finally found a place where I belonged. For the first time, I was excited for what the future might hold.

Of course, that was when everything went wrong.

I was talking with Grover, who was in the middle of stuffing his face with his umpteenth s'more, when I felt something weird crawling up my neck. I shivered, stopping midsentence.

"Percy, man, everything alright?" Grover asked through a mouthful of melted marshmallow.

I glanced behind me, but there was nothing there except for a couple campers from the other cabins. I shrugged it off. "Nothing, I guess."

Grover didn't look completely convinced. By now, we had gained Annabeth's attention. The daughter of Athena walked over to us, her arms crossed and a suspicious look in her eyes. "What are you two talking about?" She rose in eyebrow in my direction, as if saying, ' _What did you do_ now _?_ '

I held my hands up in surrender. "Nothing, I swear. We were just—" My body stiffened as the same shiver ran up my spine. I turned around fully this time, my hand reaching for Riptide.

"What is it, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was a mix between exasperation and alarm, as if trying to decide if I was playing a joke or truly thought a monster was around.

My eyebrows furrowed. One, I didn't like her calling me that, and two, I was _sure_ I had felt something. I opened my mouth to express this, but suddenly the feeling came back. This time, my entire body was tingling from the strange sensation. I couldn't really describe what it felt like—it was almost as if thousands of bugs were crawling across my skin as I was dipped under ice cold water.

Then, there was a flash of light. It blinded me, causing my eyes to flinch shut on instinct. The next second, I was wrenched back violently, like I had been sucked into a vacuum.

And then, I was falling.

The falling didn't last for long. It was like that feeling you get when you were half asleep and all of the sudden you felt like you were falling off a cliff. One second I was dropping like a stone through empty space, and the next I was jack-knifing up into a sitting position, my legs tangled in something.

I blearily looked around, rubbing my eyes. My mind felt clouded, and a headache pounded into my skull. Maybe I had hit my head when I fell? The ground wasn't very soft, after all. Though, I would've thought Annabeth or Grover would have caught me before I smacked the dirt.

Humph, what great friends _they_ were.

After a few moments, the cobwebs in my mind slowly cleared. When they did, I blinked. Then I blinked again. I was back in my cabin. Maybe they had moved me here after I passed out? Except, no, that wasn't right. There was something different about my cabin. Something was off.

There were more things around the room. A metal hippocampus hung from the ceiling, swimming above the bunk beds. Clothes were strewn across the room, and while that was normal for my cabin, the shirts and pants were all too big to fit me. There was also a fountain in the back corner that gurgled with saltwater. So, maybe Dad had felt like redecorating the cabin to thank me for completing the quest for him and averting World War III? But no, that didn't sound like something the Sea God would do. Plus, it didn't explain the clothes.

A small whimper suddenly drew my attention to one of the bunks. It was the one right next to mine that I had originally passed over. My green eyes widened at what they saw. A girl, about sixteen or seventeen, was lying tangled under the sheets. Her blonde hair created a halo around her head as she tossed in her sleep, and her eyebrows were scrunched together in what looked like pain.

I honestly had no clue what to do. My mind was frozen. Why was there a girl in my cabin? Why was there a girl _sleeping_ in my cabin? It didn't make sense! I wasn't friends with any teenage girls at camp—especially not good enough friends with one to have them come for a sleepover.

So, I did what any rational person would do if they found a stranger sleeping in their room.

I screamed.

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 **A/N: This first chapter is pretty short, sorry. The next ones will be significantly longer, I promise. I only have a rough idea of where this is going, so any ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading; I'd love to hear your thoughts so far.**

 **Until next time,**

 **~Wrendsor**


	2. Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad

**A/N: So, um, this chapter turned out to be _waaay_ longer than I originally intended. I just got so caught up into it that when I finally looked at the word count it was around 7,000 words, and by then I couldn't go back. This chapter basically just catches you up on the happenings after BoO and sets the stage for the rest of the fic. Anyway, you probably want to read the chapter now, so I'll stop rambling.**

* * *

Percy the Elder

 **I was already having a bad day** before getting vacuumed into space. A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It started with me waking up at five o'clock in the morning, covered in sweat and tangled in my bed sheets like a caterpillar in a cocoon. My breathing was ragged and my heart pounded a mile a minute. It took me a few seconds to register that I was actually in my cabin, and that it had just been a nightmare.

By then, I forgot most of what the nightmare had been about, but judging from the random flashes of it that I got whenever I blinked, it had been a bad one. On a scale of one to ten, I would have given it a seventeen. I dug the palms of my hands into my eyes, trying to erase the terrifying images from my brain.

When that didn't work, I awkwardly untangled myself from my sheets and crept over to the private bathroom, which had been installed into every cabin during my six-month nap due to the rise in campers. I turned on the sink. The water poured out of the tap, its gentle sound soothing my frayed nerves. I splashed some of it on my face, letting out a sigh of relief as its healing powers took effect. In the mirror, I watched as the bruises receded somewhat from under my eyes and my skin started to look less zombie-like.

Finally calmed down from my nightly episode, I shuffled back to my bunk. I sunk down onto my bed, leaning against the headboard. It was no use trying to go back to sleep. The four hours I'd gotten were a blessing. Plus, I could feel the nightmare right behind my eyes; if I closed them for even a second, I knew I'd be sucked right back in.

So instead, I chose to watch my girlfriend sleep like a vampire stalker. Maybe I was being a little creeperish—okay, a lot creeperish—but still, it was hard to _not_ look at her. The moon shone through one of the windows of the cabin and onto her, casting her in silver light. Her golden hair surrounded her like a halo, and it reminded me of the first time I saw her and in my delirious state thought she had been a princess. Even in her sleep, she looked like she was deep in thought—her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed. I wondered what she was dreaming about, though it probably wasn't anything good. If I had to guess, I'd say she'd be joining me in the waking world in an hour or so.

Just as I thought that, Annabeth started squirming in her sleep. Her head tossed from side to side, and she muttered incoherent things under her breath. It was agony watching her in pain, but I didn't try to wake her up. She had been working nonstop on her plans for redesigning Olympus, and she really needed to rest. So, I resolved to clenching and unclenching my fists instead as I watched my girlfriend sleep.

I worried my lip between my teeth. After a few more minutes, I couldn't take it anymore. My feet had a mind of their own as they walked over to her bunk. I didn't wake her, though. Instead, I slipped in bed beside her, careful not to disturb her. My leg pressed against hers, and our shoulders touched. I murmured soft words into her ear, trying to lull her back to a dreamless sleep. After a while, her flailing slowed. She sighed and snuggled closer, her arm draping across my stomach.

My original guess had been wrong. Annabeth woke up a little before eight, right as the sun was rising above the Long Island Sound. She blinked at me, her mind still clouded from sleep.

"'Morning, Perce." She yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Wise Girl." I smirked at her.

"How long did you last this time?"

"Four hours."

She humphed, probably not pleased but not exactly displeased either. She sat up, running a hand through her curly hair to try to tame it. Shoving the covers off of herself, she stood to her feet and made her way over to the bathroom. I waited for her on the bed, my arms crossed behind my head.

Five minutes later, Annabeth came out looking nice and fresh and ready to cease the day. She tossed me a towel as she passed; it landed on my face.

"You stink. I'm not getting any closer to you until you shower."

I groaned, rolling over to shove my face in her pillow. I tried to ignore her lemony smell all over it. "But, Annabeth."

She huffed. "Hurry up, Seaweed Brain, or you'll miss pancakes for breakfast."

That got me going. I threw the towel over my shoulder, grabbed a few clothes from the floor that seemed clean, and dashed to the bathroom. Annabeth was laughing as she headed out of the cabin.

"Save some for me!" I called to her as she left. She just shook her head in exasperation; I wondered if that meant yes or no.

After one of the quickest showers of my life, I met up with Annabeth in the dining pavilion. Of course, the cabin situation didn't extend to the eating arrangements, so she was sitting with a few Athena campers at their table. I made my way over to it and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek ('cause I'm classy like that) before heading back to the Poseidon table.

Halfway through my third pancake, Jason came over to sit at the Zeus table. I nodded at the tired-looking son of Jupiter, who smiled back. Jason and Piper had just returned from Camp Jupiter last night, so I guessed that they both had jetlag. Or well, Hellhound-lag, since they borrowed Mrs. O'Leary to get here.

Once Annabeth finished eating her healthy breakfast of eggs and toast, she walked over to our tables, plopping down next to me. Seeing as my face was covered in syrup, she chose not to greet me with a kiss and instead just settled for bumping her leg against mine.

"Hey, Jason. Nice to see you up," she addressed the Roman demigod.

"Hi, Annabeth. You two look well rested. You sleep okay?" Jason tried looking nonchalant, but the way he was poking at his waffle kind of ruined it.

My fist clenched around my fork as I pushed back the harsh images of my nightmare, but it was like they were engraved in the back of my eyeballs. Annabeth's gaze flickered to me once before returning to Jason.

"We were fine, thanks." She had a tight smile on her face, but her voice clearly said to drop it. Jason took the hint.

Wanting to break the now awkward silence, I broke in. "Hey, Grace, wanna spar later? I know you're a little intimidated from our last duel in Kansas, but I'll make sure to go easy on you."

Jason returned my cocky grin with one of his own. "Oh, you're on, Jackson. But, just to let you know, it'll be _me_ taking it easy on _you_."

"Whatever you say, bro." I rolled my eyes.

Annabeth just shook her head, muttering something about 'boys' under her breath. Then she slid from my table and stood up. "Well, I'm going to get back to my designs. Aphrodite wanted the indoor fountain in one of her temples resized, and for that I have to rework the entire architectural structure of the building. See you." And with a quick peck to my temple (my face was still syrupy), she was gone. Jason and I both called our byes at her retreating figure.

Once she was out of sight, Jason and I made eye contact again.

"Half hour, arena, be there." Grace said.

I agreed. "Bring that girlfriend of yours. We need a ref."

Jason nodded, and we shook hands to seal the deal. Then, he shoved the rest of his waffle into his mouth and rushed off, probably to collect Piper. Meanwhile, I grabbed the syrup bottle, pouring more maple deliciousness onto my already drenched pancakes before digging back in. You could never have enough maple syrup.

* * *

 **"Why did I agree to this again**?" Piper asked from the edge of the fighting arena. She tugged on the white speckled feather in one of her braids, her eyes still tired from sleep. She looked like she wanted to crawl into her bed and hibernate for the next month.

I slung an arm around her shoulders. "Because, Pipes, you're the best ref out there!"

"Plus, you can get us to stop if we accidentally destroy the camp." Jason called from a few feet to the left. He was sharpening his _gladius_ in preparation for the duel.

Piper rolled her eyes, shoving me away from her. "Yeah, right. You two probably just want an audience."

Jason stood up, twirling his now perfectly sharpened sword a couple times. Walking over to Piper, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Of course not, Pipes. We aren't _that_ shallow."

His girlfriend crossed her arms, but I could see her colorful eyes soften. "Fine. Let's just get this show on the road."

I whooped excitedly, dashing to the center of the arena. The son of Jupiter followed at a more leisurely pace. Once reaching there, I pulled out Riptide and uncapped it. My sword sprung out of the pen with a _shink_. Jason and I began circling each other.

"So, bro, ready lose?" I taunted.

Jason laughed. "I'm not the one that's gonna lose, Jackson."

"Whatever you say, Grace."

"C'mon boys, I don't want to be here all day!" Piper yelled from her position a safe distance away. With that, Jason and I made eye contact and charged.

While Annabeth had her architecture as an escape, mine was fighting. And yes, that probably wasn't healthy. But, sparring kept my mind off of things. When I swordfight, my mind becomes solely focused on the battle and everything else just drifts away. I lose myself in it. Although, that also doubled as a major con to sparring. If I got too lost in it, I forgot that it was only for fun. It became a fight for survival, which was as ingrained into my bones after two wars as eating or breathing was. That was why I mainly sparred with just Clarisse. The daughter of Ares was one of the few campers who could match me, and the only one crazy enough to actually push me harder. Plus, she also was the only one who didn't treat me like a broken doll after everything (besides Annabeth, but she didn't count because everyone treated her that way too), so it was nice.

Our swords crashed, sending vibrations up my arms. We exchanged blows for a while, testing the waters. I was reminded how much I enjoyed sparring with the son of Jupiter. He had a different fighting style than the people at Camp Half-Blood, being Roman and all. Instead of slashing and parrying, he stabbed and blocked. It was refreshing, and kept me on my toes.

After a few minutes, our exchanges became more heated. He stabbed for my stomach, but I quickly fell into a roll, slashing at his legs as I did so. Jason leapt over my attack, bringing his sword down on me. I parried the blow, returning to my feet. Our swords crossed again and it was on.

The winds started to pick up, whipping our clothes. I glared at Jason, but he just shrugged, attempting to get under my defense. Fine, if he really wanted to bring powers into this…

I yanked at the rope in my gut, feeling the familiar tugging sensation wash over me as the water from the lake rushed to us. The humidity in the air rose as the vapor in the air reacted to my powers. Jason frowned as particles of water joined his small tornado, creating a miniature hurricane.

Seeing an opening, I slashed under his guard. Right before my blade could connect, Jason brought up his _gladius_ to deflect it so that the flat of my blade just skimmed his ribs. The son of Jupiter winced, but didn't pause as he stabbed at my leg. I barely dodged it.

By now, sweat dripped down my back. My breaths were coming in raggedly; I silently cursed the poisonous air of Tartarus for giving me asthma. Seriously, a demigod always running from monsters did _not_ need asthma added to his plate. Jason, I could see, was also starting to get worn, but his breathing was way smoother.

Noticing my breathing, Jason pulled back slightly. "Hey man, if you need to call it-"

Before he could finish, I attacked him. My sword came down in a deadly arc. The Roman's eyes widened. It was too late to bring up his weapon, so instead he shot into the air. He hovered a couple meters above the ground.

"Hey, that's cheating!" I yelled breathlessly.

Jason just smirked. "You didn't say anything about not using powers."

I growled. Two could play at that game. I raised my hand, and immediately the water from the hurricane followed my movements. A huge wave crashed into the son of Jupiter. When the water receded, Jason was left sprawled on the dirt, coughing up half the lake.

I was bent over with laughter when the air started to smell like ozone. "Oh, schist." I barely had time to dive out of the way before the lightning struck. The blast made me tumble back a few feet, my hair standing on end. My head became fuzzy.

Hearing pounding footsteps getting closer, I scrambled back to my feet, ignoring the ache in my bones from getting shocked. I managed to bring my sword up just in time for it to deflect Jason's _gladius_. It became a game, both of us going back and forth with our blows. The son of Jupiter had given me a small nick on my right arm, but Jason's torso was probably littered with bruises under his shirt.

No one seemed to have the upper hand. My head was still dazed from the lightning, and my strikes were slowly getting weaker. If I didn't finish the fight now, I knew I'd be in trouble.

Suddenly, I saw an opening. In an attempt to block one of my wild slashes, Jason had left his left side unguarded. I quickly sidestepped to get myself in swinging range. Sadly, I sidestepped straight into Jason's sword. The Imperial Gold blade sliced through my skin, starting from under my right collarbone and down the bottom of my left ribcage. The cut wasn't very deep, but blood started to seep through. I watched numbly as the red liquid stained my orange camp shirt, spar forgotten.

Jason dropped his weapon. "Crap, man. Sorry, I didn't mean to…" He talked on, but his voice didn't register in my ears.

When I finally looked up, Akhlys was standing right in front of me. Her claws were crimson from the horrible slash across my chest that stung like acid, and her face was twisted into an ugly sneer. My breath quickened and my heart raced. Around me, the bubbling green river of poison inched closer.

"No." I mumbled, stumbling back as I stared in horror at the grotesque figure in front of me.

Misery just smiled, revealing a set of rotting fangs and making the scratches down her checks weep blood. She lunged for me, but I rolled to the side, her talons barely scrapping my shirt sleeve. I brought up Riptide in a defensive position, getting ready for her next attack.

Suddenly, a piece of jerky hit Akhlys in the back of the head. "Hey! Pleasant, Jubilant, Ecstatic, over here!" A voice called from a couple meters away. I turned, my eyes widening at the sight. Annabeth had a handful of Drakon jerky in one fist, and in the other she was waving her new ivory sword threateningly. Akhlys turned her gaze to the daughter of Athena, eyes flashing red in anger.

"No, Annabeth!" I yelled. I didn't want my girlfriend to fight the Goddess of Misery, especially since we were weakened from the Death Mist.

With a scream of rage, I violently pulled on the cord in my stomach. It was the same one that I used to control water. Poison was a liquid. I could control it—I had to, or else Annabeth and I would be doomed. The deathly poison rippled slightly. I concentrated even harder, feeling the tugging sensation in my stomach turn to tearing.

Suddenly, something inside of me broke, like a ball of glass shattering. The poison immediately bent to my will, pooling around Misery. Her skin sizzled as it made contact with the fatal liquids. She screeched in pain, tears pouring out of her eyes. Good, more water. The salty tears filled her throat, choking her.

"Percy, stop!" My girlfriend screamed, her voice filled with fright. I turned to her, seeing her face. Despite her zombie-like appearance, I could still make out her look of horror, disgust, and fear.

Fear of _me_.

Tears dripped down her cheeks, and her gray eyes pierced mine. Her lip trembled. "You… _monster_."

What was left of the broken ball inside of me shattered into a million pieces. I was being drowned, burned, and electrified all at the same time.

Then, a strong voice reverberated through my skull. " _Sleep_!"

And I passed out.

* * *

 **When I finally began to regain consciousness** , I immediately regretted it. A headache hammered against my skull like when Blackjack had clubbed me. I groaned, bringing a heavy hand up to rub my temples.

"Percy?" The voice sounded like drums at a heavy metal concert to my sensitive ears. I winced, risking a quick peak at the person who just spoke.

She was to my left, clutching the hand not currently thrown across my face as if it was her lifeline. Her wild hair was tamed into a quick ponytail, and her intelligent eyes were filled with emotion.

"'Nabeth?" I murmured.

In response, she rubbed her thumb across the back of my hand.

"Wha' happened?"

Her blonde eyebrows creased. "You were sparring with Jason when you had an episode. Do you remember now?"

The memories finally returned to me. I quickly shoved them away. "Mhmm."

"What was it about this time?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Don't remember."

Relief flashed across her eyes. Annabeth reached beside her, grabbing a glass filled with golden liquid and handing it to me. "Don't drink too much. Will already gave you some for the cut on your chest, but this should help with the headache."

Pulling myself up so that I was sitting on the cot, I took the nectar from my girlfriend and sipped it. Once the taste of Mom's chocolate chip cookies washed away the remainder of my headache, I placed the cup back on the side table. "So, how long was I out for?"

"Four hours," answered Annabeth.

" _Four hours_?!"

"Yes. It was probably from how little sleep you've been getting."

"But that means I missed lunch!"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "A flashback just knocked you unconscious for four hours, and all you care about is missing lunch?"

"You would too if you'd been sparring right before."

"Fine." The daughter of Athena sighed, but a fond smile tugged at her lips. "I'm sure we can get the Harpies to scrounge something up for you."

"On second thought, I'm good, thanks."

"Percy, the Harpies aren't _that_ bad."

"You weren't the one who almost got eaten after accidentally breaking a dish during dishwashing duty." I replied.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, tugging me to my feet. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Your big, tough girlfriend will protect you from the mean chicken-ladies."

"Now you're just mocking me." I muttered, dragging my feet as she pulled me out of the infirmary.

Annabeth laughed. Hearing the sound, I could almost convince myself that I truly didn't remember the flashback.

Almost.

* * *

 **Even though the Harpies could be intimidating** , they were amazing cooks. The pizza that they'd made me was delicious, and it was even blue how I liked it (how did they even find blue pepperonis?). Their pizza definitely beat Rome's poor excuse, though you'd think Italy, the inventor of pizza, would have figured out how to make the dish properly by now.

After our late lunch, Annabeth told me that she had to leave for Brooklyn. She and our friend Sadie had planned to hang out for the day and do whatever girls did for fun. I gave her a goodbye kiss.

"Watch out for evil Elvis wannabes trying to take over the world."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'll be on the lookout."

"And say hi to Sadie and Carter for me?"

"Mhmm." She gave me one last parting kiss and then was on her way.

Once my girlfriend was gone, I was left to my own devices. It was half-passed one, which meant that I had to teach a swordfighting class soon. Deciding that it would be best to get there early for once to set up, I made my way over to the arena. Before I even walked ten steps, an image shimmered to life in front of me. The IM showed a horned teen with pipes hanging around his neck.

"G-man!" I smiled at my satyr friend.

Grover grinned back. "Hey, Perce. How's your day been?"

 _Blood. Misery. Poison. Annabeth. Annabeth! Pain. Fear. "You…_ monster _."_

"Same old, same old. Oh, are you still planning on coming over in a few days? Mom said that she could make enchiladas, just how you like 'em."

Grover scratched his neck awkwardly. "About that…"

My spirits dropped, but I immediately plastered on a fake smile. "Hey, it's cool, man. I know your plate is loaded with your Lord of the Wild stuff."

"It's totally not cool, Percy." The satyr shook his head. "And I can tell when you're lying. Empathy link, remember?"

I sighed. "Okay, so I'm a little disappointed, but you have responsibilities now. A play date can wait."

"I also have responsibilities to the person who's been my friend for six years." Grover pointed out.

"Grover…"

"Seriously, man. I'm just a little caught up right now. Some big company is trying to knock down a forest in Colorado and the dryads are frantic. I'll just be a week or two late, but I'm still coming. Got it?"

"Got it." I replied.

Grover suddenly narrowed his eyes at me, his face filling with concern. "Are you getting enough sleep?"

I threw my hands up. "Gah, you're as bad as Jason! I don't need _three_ moms."

"Well, _something_ is up with you. I can feel it."

I shoved my fists into my pockets so that he wouldn't be able to see them shaking. "I'll be fine. I'm just… dealing, ya know?"

"Yeah, sure, Percy. Um, just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You do realize who you're talking too, right?"

He snorted. "Yeah, yeah. See you, Perce."

"Bye G-man." I gave him one last wave before cutting through the IM. Checking the time on my watch, I saw that I was now late for my class. Again.

Schist.

* * *

 **The swordfighting lesson went worse** than getting sat on by a Hyperborean. It was a beginning class filled with kids ranging from eight to thirteen, and most had never held a weapon before. The class had originally been taught by Sherman, a son of Ares, but after one of the half-bloods accidentally stabbed him in the foot, he'd handed the job over to me. I usually enjoyed teaching people the ways of the sword, but this group of demigods was a bit more… difficult than others. It was composed of mostly new Hermes kids, plus a few Nemesis, Apollo, Hephaestus, and Nike ones mixed in. That wasn't the best combination. I thankfully managed to leave with all body parts attached.

After a quick shower and slipping on a random Camp Jupiter shirt that was lying on the floor, I decided to go hang out by the beach until dinnertime. When I got there, a few Aphrodite and Hebe kids were already out tanning. I spotted Drew in a bikini that looked _way_ too small for her and immediately walked in the opposite direction before she could spot me. Settling down in a relatively quiet spot, I watched the waves crash into the shore. The sound was calming, almost like a lullaby. I could feel my tensed muscles slowly relax as the ocean worked its way into my head. All the terrible thoughts from earlier today were washed away with its current. I could finally breathe again.

And then I felt it. A strange tingling went up my neck, like bugs were crawling up it. In less than a second, Riptide was in my hand and I turned to face whatever it was.

There was nothing.

"Percy? Is something wrong?" A sweet voice asked.

I startled, whipping my head to where the person was standing beside me. It was a young girl around twelve with long sandy hair, big brown eyes, and a babyish face. It took me a moment before her name clicked in my mind: Juliette, daughter of Hebe. Clearing my throat awkwardly, I recapped my sword, but kept the weapon in my grip. "Hey, Jules. I'm fine."

"Is that why you started waving your sword around at nothing?" She put her hand on her hip, looking pretty condescending for a preteen.

"I thought I felt something, but obviously I was mistaken." I said, slipping the pen into my pocket.

"Juliette!" Another girl called, running up to the daughter of Hebe. When she saw me, she stumbled in the sand. "Oh, hi, Percy." She tugged on one of her pigtails.

I recognized her. She was Piper's little sister. "Lacy, hi." I greeted the daughter of Aphrodite.

A small blush colored her cheeks as she smiled. "So, um…" The half-blood stuttered.

"What did you want me for?" Jules butted in, a little smirk on her face as she watched her friend stumble over her words.

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Lacy stopped staring at me, turning back to her friend. "Rebekah, Jordan, and I wanted to play volleyball, but I need someone on my team. Do you want to join? I mean, if you aren't busy with Percy and all…"

Juliette laughed for whatever reason. "No, Percy and I weren't doing anything. I'd love to play with you guys."

"Great!" Lacy exclaimed. She glanced at me. "So, um, see you later, I guess?"

"Sure." I grinned at her. "Say hi to your sister for me, please?"

Lacy nodded. "Definitely. Will do. So, uh, bye!" The two girls ran off, Juliette still laughing at her friend.

I rolled my shoulders, releasing the pent up tension. So much for some relaxation time. That little feeling—or whatever that was back there—hadn't just been my imagination. At least, I didn't think it was. Maybe my nerves were so frayed that I just thought it was danger. After all, the Giant War had ended only a month and a half ago. Everyone was still a little on edge. Either way, I wanted to take it to Chiron. If it wasn't just some fluke of my mind, then he ought to know. And if it was… well, then he deserved to know about how I was going crazy, too.

I made my way to the Big House, waving and saying hi to the friends I passed. Jason was sitting on the porch, frowning and looking deep in thought. When he heard my approach and looked up, his eyes widened. "Percy!"

"'Sup, Jason?" I shoved my hands in my pockets as the son of Jupiter shot off the wooden step.

"Are you okay, man?" Jason asked. "Sorry for cutting you; I was being careless."

I shrugged. "It's all cool. Not your fault."

Jason's face was still filled with worry. "I heard you were out for four hours. It's getting worse, isn't it?"

My eyes rolled. Jason, for all his bravado, could be such a Mother Hen. He had Hazel beat by a long shot. "Annabeth said it was just because I haven't been sleeping well."

The Roman still looked skeptical, but he finally gave in. "Fine. But tell me if it does, okay?"

"Yep." I replied easily. My hands were still in my pockets, so Jason couldn't see that my fingers were crossed.

"Anyway…" Jason steered away from the previous topic. "Why did you come to the Big House?"

"I wanted to talk to Chiron about something."

"You might have to wait a while, then."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"The Stolls were caught pranking the Demeter cabin again."

"Great." I grumbled.

"Oh, have you seen Leo around?" Jason asked suddenly.

"Uh, not today. He's probably holed up in the bunker working on his next crazy project."

Jason ran his hand through his hair. "How likely is it that he's been in there for over twenty-four hours?"

"Very."

He sighed. "I'll go get him. We don't want him turning into a hermit." Just then, a loud roar came from Half-Blood Hill. "On second thought…"

Jason grabbed his _gladius_ as I uncapped Riptide, and then we were both sprinting toward Thalia's Pine. When we reached the top of the hill, we could finally see the battle raging just beyond camp borders. The source of the roar had been Peleus, the copper-scaled dragon. His serpentine body was still wrapped like coils around the pine tree, protecting the Golden Fleece.

I quickly patted his nose. "Thanks for the warning, buddy."

The young dragon snorted in response, smoke billowing out of his nostrils.

"What _are_ those things?" The blond demigod adjusted his glasses on his nose.

The _things_ Jason was referring to were the three monsters at the bottom of the hill. They had the body of a stag, the neck and tail of a lion, and the face of a badger. However, I didn't look at them too long. I was more focused on the people they were attacking. There was a little boy, who looked about twelve or thirteen with curly brown hair. He huddled behind a familiar satyr.

"YOU WANT A PIECE OF THIS?! COME AND GET IT, YOU HYENA-RIPOFFS!" Coach Hedge swung his club at the closest lion-stag-thingy, but the monster just clamped its teeth down on the wooden stick and tossed it aside. Sadly, Coach Hedge didn't want to give up his favorite weapon, so he went flying along with it.

That was enough to spur Jason and me into action. We sprinted down the hill, stumbling a couple times in our rush. The wind picked up around us, thanks to Jason. He flew off to retrieve the satyr before one of the beasts could beat him to it. I, instead, ran toward the unclaimed and unarmed demigod. Before I could get to the boy, a monster lunged at him.

"Look out!" I yelled.

The boy turned to me, the complete opposite of what I wanted to happen. Gritting my teeth, I put on a burst of speed, closing the distance with a final leap. The kid yelped as I full-body tackled him. The monster's teeth barely skimmed my shirt, and we crashed to the ground in a pile of limbs.

I quickly rolled back to my feet, grabbing Riptide off the ground. "Stay behind me." I ordered the boy.

"What-what is that?" He asked.

"I don't know." I replied truthfully.

The half-blood rolled his eyes. "Some help you are."

"Hey!" I protested. "I just saved your life."

"Great. Do you want an award?"

"Yes, actually. Make it solid gold; I won't accept anything less." I retorted sarcastically. Suddenly, the monster attacked again, but I deflected its hooves with a flick of my sword.

The kid gulped. "How about you just help me survive these deer things, then we can worry about the award later."

"Deal."

With that, I turned my attention solely on the beast in front of me. Up close, it was even uglier. Its eyes were a putrid yellow color and filled with far more intelligence than any animal should have. When it snarled, its mouth split open like the Joker's, making it look as if it was smiling. I swiped Riptide across its chest, but the monster was faster than I gave it credit for. It weaved to the side, the bronze blade barely nicking its coarse hide. Before I could recover from my wild swing, the lion-stag charged. But I wasn't the target.

The brown-haired demigod stood frozen, his brown eyes widening as the beast stampeded toward him. Apparently, he was great with smartass remarks, but his reflexes held a little to be desired. So, for the second time that day, I barreled into the kid. He hit the ground rolling, tumbling out of the danger zone. Sadly, I was not so fortunate.

The monster's hooves collided into chest. All the breath left me in a _whoosh_ , and there were several cracks that ribs weren't supposed to make. My back hit the ground hard, further extinguishing the oxygen from my lungs. If I'd been able to, I probably would've let out a slew of curse words. As it was, I just groaned—and even that little sound was painful.

From somewhere to my left, I heard Jason call out my name. My head twisted to the side to see him rushing toward me, the monster he'd been fighting all but forgotten. However, Badger Face hadn't forgotten about him. It caught up to the running demigod in a few prances, head-butting him hard in the shoulder. Caught off guard, Jason face planted into the ground, knocking his head on a loose rock. I winced, wondering what his record of KO's was up to now (last I heard, it was well passed double digits). Luckily, Coach Hedge was back on his feet—er, hooves. The satyr clubbed the beast right in its badger-like face. Coach whooped as it dissolved into a pile of sand.

"And THAT'S why you don't mess with me! Mess with a satyr, you get the horns, buddy!" Hedge continued to yell at the dust, kicking it a few times for good measure.

Meanwhile, the lion-stag loomed over me. It snorted, pawing its hoof at the ground as if soaking in the glory before delivering the final blow. My chest ached, and I was light-headed from not getting enough air. My hand scrambled for Riptide, but it had slipped out of my grasp when I'd gotten knocked over and hadn't returned to my pocket yet. Just as the beast reared on its hind legs, my fingers brushed across a smooth surface. I clutched it in my palm, finding that it was a baseball-sized rock. Wasting no time, I chucked it at the monster above me.

Bullseye.

The rock hit the lion-stag's nose, causing the beast let out an ear-splitting screech of pain. Using the distraction to my advantage, I quickly rolled back to my feet and scrambled out from under the monster. Black spots clouded my vision as my ribs grinded together. It took all my strength not to throw up.

The sudden weight in my pocket alerted me of Riptide's return. I pulled the pen out of my pants, flicking the cap off with a thumb. The celestial bronze sword sprung to full length, and not a moment too soon. Sparks flew off the blade as it clashed against the beast's hooves once again. The force of the monster's attack spent me stumbling back a few steps, but I came back with a quick stab to its foreleg. The beast cried out as my blade cleaved completely through its leg. The monster skittered back, taking my sword with it. I sucked in a breath, regretting it immediately after.

Before the monster could come after me again, a flying stick hit it in the back of the head. "Hey, ugly!" The curly-haired, unclaimed demigod shouted. His cheeks were red from breathing so hard. He looked like he was almost hyperventilating. I remembered how terrifying my first true monster fight had been on this same hill. I hadn't known anything about the Greek world then and thought that the world had gone completely wacko. This kid was probably going through the same thing.

The monster turned its head toward the half-blood, its yellow eyes flashing in anger. That was all the opening I needed. While the lion-stag glared at the kid, deciding how best to slaughter the insolent half-breed who dared to throw a stick at it, I lunged forward. My hand grasped the hilt of Riptide, and in one smooth motion, I yanked it out and swung backwards. The blade sliced through the monster's mane and throat. The next second, I was rewarded with a shower of monster dust.

Collapsing to my knees, I struggled to suck in a breath. My head swam from the lack of oxygen. My hand wrapped around my torso, trying to hold myself together before I went into a panic. Suffocation felt a little too much like drowning for my liking.

When I heard footsteps approaching, I gathered all my strength and pushed myself to my feet with the help of my sword. The thirteen-year-old watched me warily, his eyes flickering from my sword, to my chest, and back to my face. "Nice moves."

I gave him a crooked smile that probably looked more like a wince. "Thanks."

He held a hand out to me. "I'm Laurent, by the way."

"Percy. Percy Jackson." I replied, shaking his hand with mine.

By that time, Coach Hedge also joined us with a concussed Jason hanging off of him (which looked pretty ridiculous, because Hedge was a full foot shorter).

"You really need to stop getting hit in the head, bro." I laughed at the son of Jupiter, but grimaced right after.

Jason groaned. "Tell me about it."

I was just about to suggest a trip to the infirmary when I heard it. The sound caused the blood in my veins to freeze, and my breath hitched in my throat.

" _PERCY!_ "

It was Annabeth. I didn't even pause as I sprinted in the direction it came from, broken ribs long forgotten. In my mind, I didn't register that Annabeth was supposed to be hanging out with Sadie for another hour or two. All I cared about was that she was in trouble, and she needed me.

When I reached the tree line, I didn't stop. Branches scratched my arms and roots tripped me up as I barreled through the woods to reach the source of the scream. Suddenly, I was tackled to the ground, my ribs protesting as the weight of someone's body landed on top of me. I growled, moving to shove the person off, because _gods—freaking—dammit, Annabeth is in danger and I need to get to her—now_ , when a shadow leapt over both of us and crashed into the underbrush.

The person hobbled off of me, and I noticed that it was Laurent, leaves tangled in his hair from diving to the ground. He quickly pulled me to my feet, glaring at me. "What was that all about?!" He shouted.

In response, Annabeth screamed again. Except, it wasn't coming from Annabeth. Instead, it came from the mouth of the large beast in front of us. The monster sneered with its Joker smile, exposing its strange, ridge-like fangs. Despite myself, I felt a small wave of relief. At least this meant that my girlfriend was still safe from harm. On the other hand, it also meant that our fight wasn't done. I remembered back when Jason and I were on the hill, and I had seen three of the weird lion-stag things. This must be the third one, late for the party.

Rage suddenly filled my gut. This monster had stolen Annabeth's voice and made me think she was in danger. That crossed the line. The ground trembled as my heartbeat sped up. Laurent jumped in surprise, glancing at me in a mix of awe and fear, but I barely noticed him. I charged at the beast, swinging my sword with a yell. The creature backed up but not fast enough, gaining a thin slash across its shoulder. It snarled in pain, rearing on its hind legs. I took the chance to slide in closer, getting in a cut across its stomach before having to dodge its landing. Seeing a slim opening, I lunged for the killing blow to its neck. Sadly, it realized this just before and moved accordingly. In turn, I overshot my target, stumbling as I lost my balance.

All of the sudden, pain assaulted my senses. I yelped as the monster's fangs sank into my left upper arm, instinctively dropping my weapon. My breathing stuttered to a stop as the teeth tore through muscle.

Schist, schist, _schiiiist_ , that hurt! I tried to retrieve Riptide from the ground, but the monster held me firmly in place. Gritting my teeth together, I brought my free arm up and jabbed my thumb into its eye, but the beast refused to let go. Desperately, I searched for any water source to call on. The closest one was the creek winding through the forest in camp, but that was still over a mile away.

"No, Peter!" Laurent shouted. Peter, seriously? Percy wasn't a hard name to remember.

Suddenly, vines shot out of the ground. They wrapped themselves around the monster's legs, traveling further and further up its body until it resembled a mummy. The vines tightened their grip, squeezing the beast in an unwelcome hug. In seconds, the lion-stag exploded into particles of dust. I let out a breath, thankful now that my arm wasn't monster chow.

Looking around, I expected to see Katie, or maybe Pollux. Instead, I was greeted with Laurent's pale face. "Did I—did I just do that?" he asked incredulously.

"Looks like it." I mumbled. "And it's Percy."

His eyebrows creased. "Yeah, I knew that."

I rolled my eyes, a suspicion of who his godly parent was sneaking into my mind. That was quickly forgotten, however, as a wave of pain rolled over me. My ribs ached like I'd been run over by Mrs. O'Leary, and my arm was completely washed in agony. Looking at the mangled limb made bile rise in my throat. The skin on my left upper arm was shredded. Blood wept out of the wound in rivers, and I prayed to my dad that that wasn't just bone I saw.

Swallowing thickly, I gripped my left bicep to staunch the blood flow. "Let's just head back to Coach Hedge and Mr. Concussion."

The demigod nodded, looking slightly green at the sight of my arm, before trudging back through the woods and back to Half-Blood Hill with me. He looked very confused as Thalia's Pine got closer and closer. "Where are we, anyway? And how did I do that back there?"

I turned to him, smirking. "Laurent, what do you know about the Greek gods?"

* * *

 **"Ow, ow, ow, _fu_** —"

"You better not finish that, Jackson."

"But it _hurts_ , Will. Are you _trying_ to kill me?"

"It's just stitches, Perce. Quit being a baby."

I bit the inside of my cheek as the needle pierced my skin again, internally screaming when he forced the wound closed with thread.

After reaching the hill, we had headed straight for the infirmary. Will Solace had not been happy when he noticed my and Jason's injuries. Jason was given some ambrosia and he was pretty much good to go, though he had doctor's orders to take it easy as he still had a minor concussion. I, on the other hand, was a different story. Because of my trip here this morning, Will couldn't give me anymore godly food in fear of me spontaneously combusting, and since I prefer to not be reduced to a pile of Percy-ashes, I seconded his opinion. Instead, he and some of his siblings filled some buckets with water and dumped them over my head. The water helped my ribs mostly, but my arm was still left in bad shape. While the bone was thankfully not showing, it still resembled the training dummies after Mrs. O'Leary was through with them. Since it would've taken another couple hours for the water to work its magic on my arm, Will decided to just stitch it up so I didn't die of blood loss.

I had gotten stitches before. When I was ten, I had fallen on a broken bottle which sliced my hand up badly. When Mom had gotten home shortly after, she'd nearly had a heart attack seeing me sitting on the kitchen floor in a small puddle of my own blood and had immediately carted me off to the nearest emergency room. The experience was different than this one, though. At the hospital, they had had medicine to numb the pain, but at camp apparently stitches didn't constitute numbing medicine. The son of Apollo wasn't exactly gentle, either. Though that might be because of my constant squirming.

"There, that was the last one." The blond medic removed his red-stained latex gloves, tossing them into a trash can across the room without missing (which probably would've been a more impressive feat if I hadn't known he was Apollo's son). "Now let me just wrap it up, and you'll be good to go."

Once he finished wrapping my newly-stitched arm in white gauze, I hopped off the cot. "Thanks, man. I owe you one."

"Don't thank me just yet," Will muttered under his breath, putting away his doctor supplies.

"What was that?"

Caught, the son of Apollo rubbed his neck. "I _might_ have told Kayla to IM Annabeth."

My eyes widened. That was _not_ good news. If Annabeth found out that I'd managed to land myself in the infirmary for the second time today…

Someone cleared their throat behind me. I jumped, my hand digging into my pocket on instinct. Forcing my shoulders to relax, I plastered on a carefree smile and spun around. "Hey, Annabeth. How was your girls-day-out with Sadie?"

Annabeth was leaning in the doorway, her arms crossed. "No evil Elvises interrupted us, thankfully."

Will raised his eyebrows. "Should I even ask?"

We both shook our heads.

He sighed. "Okay, then, I'm just gonna leave you guys to it…"

The son of Apollo inched around Annabeth. She never moved her eyes from me. After Will successfully bolted out the door, she spoke. "I was only gone for a few hours, yet you still somehow managed to get yourself into trouble."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "What can I say? I'm a trouble-magnet."

My girlfriend rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly. I suddenly noticed how pronounced the bags under her eyes were. "What am I going to do with you, Percy?"

I walked closer to her. "Well, I could think of a few things."

Annabeth let out a huff of breath, like an almost-laugh. "I'm _so_ not in the mood for that right now."

"Okay, okay, sorry." I conceded. Finally closing the distance between us, I pulled her into a hug, ignoring the tug in my stitches. The daughter of Athena exhaled into my chest, wrapping her arms around my waist loosely. "But seriously, I do seem to attract trouble, don't I?"

Annabeth chuckled. She tilted her head back to look me in the eyes. "That you do. How did you get injured this time? All Kayla told me was that you were in the infirmary again."

"Jason and I heard Peleus from the Big House and went to check it out. Turned out to be Coach Hedge and a new demigod facing off these weird monsters near the boundary line. They were part deer, part lion, and all ugly. We killed three of 'em before getting into camp. The things had strange ridge-like fangs and could apparently mimic voices."

The gears turned in Annabeth's head. I could tell the exact moment when something clicked. "They're called Leukrokottae."

"What?"

"Leukrokottae." Annabeth repeated herself. "They're kind of like the prototype for hyenas. They have a serrated ridge of bone in their mouths in place of teeth and are very intelligent for monsters. A Leukrokottas can also mimic the voices of its victim's loved ones."

I wrinkled my nose. "Yeah, that's them alright. I wouldn't recommend going head-to-head with one. They're pretty nasty."

"How badly were you hurt?" She asked.

"Eh, I've had worse." I replied truthfully. "Got my chest banged up good, but the water healed it right up. One of the Kroks decided my arm looked like a chew toy, though." I nodded to my bandaged arm.

Annabeth bit her lip, inspecting Will's handy work before giving me a once-over in case I left something out. Once she finished, she slipped her hand into mine. "What about Jason? Is he okay?"

"He got a concussion again."

"What number is that, his thirteenth?"

"Fourteenth, I believe."

Annabeth shook her head, amusement flickering in her stormy eyes like lightning. "Who was the half-blood you brought in?"

"Oh, him." I smiled. "His name is Laurent. Mr. D claimed him as soon as we stepped into the Big House."

"Let me guess: he just pointed at the kid and said 'mine'?"

I laughed, ignoring the slight twinge in my ribcage. "Exactly. You should've seen Laurent's face."

She quirked a smile. "I know what you mean. He did the same thing for Pollux and Cas…" She cleared her suddenly thick throat.

My mood plummeted. I remembered Pollux's twin clearly. I also remembered how he had died during the Battle of the Labyrinth. Annabeth and I exited the infirmary in a somber mood, making our way through the hall. As we passed Chiron's office, I suddenly remembered why I had showed up here to begin with. But, the centaur wasn't in his office at the moment, and after the fight with the Leukrokottae, it didn't seem all that important anymore. It had probably just been my nerves getting the better of me.

With only a slight pause, I continued through the Big House with my girlfriend, pushing the incident to the back of my mind. After all, it was just my imagination.

Or was it?

* * *

 **It was nearly two o'clock in the morning** , and I still couldn't fall asleep. For once, it had nothing to do with Tartarus. Or well, it _mostly_ didn't have to do with Tartarus.

I couldn't get that incident on the beach out of my head. All throughout dinner and the bonfire, I had replayed it in my mind. After a lot of deliberation, I came to the conclusion that I had felt it before. That tingly sensation was just so familiar that it nearly gave me déjà vu. The problem was, I couldn't remember why it felt familiar. A lot of things I'd fought had given me that weird prickly feeling crawling up my neck, so pinpointing a certain one would be hard.

My hand scrubbed at my eyes. Although I could feel the heavy exhaustion settling on my shoulders, my body refused to shut down. Maybe it was just so used to _go, go, go_ that it forgot how to stop. Or maybe it was trying to make up for the six months I lost while in a goddess-induced coma. For whichever reason, I was antsy. Anxious, even.

On the other bed, Annabeth slept soundly, her soft snores filling up the emptiness of the room.

Suddenly, it felt like someone was dragging their fingers up the back of my neck. I instantly went into high alert, clenching the sheets in my fists. Biting the inside of my cheek, I told myself that it was nerves. The night was just getting to me.

 _Liar_ , my mind sang.

 _Shut up_ , I told it.

My eyes searched the darkness, scouting for monsters. I couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean much. It was always the monsters you couldn't see that were the deadliest.

The sensation came again not a minute later, this time even stronger than the last, crawling all the way down my spine. I shuddered, shoving my hand into my pocket and holding onto Riptide like a lifeline. Okay, so that was definitely not a figment of my imagination. Just as I was about to call out to Annabeth, the feeling overwhelmed me once again. It was like I had been dunked into freezing acid. And then, there was a flash of blinding light, and I was suddenly vacuumed into space.

* * *

 **A/N: And ta-dah! Chapter two is complete. I applaud you for finally reaching the end of this. That was 9,000 words you just read!**

 **Anyway, I have a few questions for you guys. The outline I have for this fanfic is rough. And by that, I mean _very_ rough. I have a concept, and I know vaguely how it'll all go down. _Buuuut_ , I still can't decide on some things. How do you want Percy (the elder) reacting to being sent back into time and coming face to face with all the (literal) ghosts of his past? How would little Annabeth react to seeing him? And Luke, who still has yet to betray him? And what about the younger Percy? How do you want him to react? And Annabeth, and all his other friends/family? Do you guys have any scenes in mind, or a direction you want the story to go? I really want to hear your guys' opinions, because this story could go in so many directions, and I don't know which one to choose. So if you have any suggestions, throw me a review or PM and I'd love you for it.**

 **Also, thank you everyone for your favorites/follows/reviews after only one chapter! You are the best.**

 **Stay classy,**

 **~Wrendsor**


	3. Oh, Schist

**A/N: Here's another chapter for you guys. Hope you like!**

* * *

Annabeth the Elder

 **The screams awoke me** from my not-so-pleasant dream. At first, I had thought I was still asleep, deep in Hypnos's realm hearing the cries of my loved ones in the River Acheron. It took me a second to realize that I was actually conscious and in my bed in cabin three. It took me another second to realize that it was my boyfriend's scream that woke me up.

 _Gods, not again_ , I thought wildly. _Is Percy getting one night of sleep too much to ask_? Out of the two of us, he definitely drew the short stick on the nightmare/flashback spectrum of PTSD. Yesterday had been especially tough on the son of Poseidon. Don't get me wrong, I had my own heaping pile of problems—after all, you don't come out of two wars and literally crawling through hell perfectly unscathed—but when it came to those two, he definitely took the cake. It might be because his annoying habit of feeling guilty for every single thing that went wrong, even the things were out of his control. Or maybe it was because my mind was just naturally more guarded from the effects of Tartarus due to my mother being the goddess of wisdom.

I threw off my covers and hurried over to his bed. There was a loud crash as I suspected that he tumbled off. A muffled yelp sounded. The fall must have woken him.

"Perc—" I started to call out to him when his head popped up from the other side of his bunk. Except, he wasn't Percy. It was a small, black-haired boy with a crown of some type of plant around his head that covered his eyes. In the dark, I couldn't make out any facial features.

In a blink, I pulled a dagger out from underneath my pillow that I kept under there for this exact reason and had it aimed at the intruder.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" I asked angrily, my gray eyes sparking. I was not in the mood for this at gods-knew-what-hour in the morning. After such an exhausting day, I desperately needed those few hours of shut eye. Apparently, that was too much to ask for, as I was now threatening a stranger at knife point while my boyfriend was nowhere to be found (which was another can of worms that I didn't want to open at the moment, given present company).

The boy's mouth dropped open. He scrambled to his feet. "Woah, woah, woah, what am _I_ doing here? The real question is what are _you_ doing here, princess? Last I checked, this was _my_ cabin!"

"Your cabin? This isn't your cabin. I've never seen you at camp before." I gritted my teeth, wondering why a new camper would have the audacity to sneak into cabin three and call me _princess_. This boy couldn't be one of Poseidon's kids; he was too old. If the wreath around his head was anything to go by, I'd say he was one of Demeter's. Or perhaps he belonged to cabin eleven and this was their idea of a joke (the Stolls probably wanted something to blackmail us with). And just where in Hades was Percy?!

"Like you're one to talk! I don't know who you are! I just pass out at the bonfire and wake up to a slumber party with a random teenage girl!" The boy yelled, frustratingly shoving the wreath away from his eyes.

Suddenly, my mind froze. All the blood rushed out of my face. Those eyes… They belonged to…

"Percy?" I whispered. My heart thudded in my chest. No, no. This couldn't be happening. Another nightmare, perhaps?

The boy's sea green eyes—the same eyes I'd stared into millions of times before—narrowed at me. His hand drifted to his pants pocket. "How do you know my name?"

The dagger slipped through my numb fingers, falling to the floor with a clang. My mind scrambled for a reasonable solution—anything other than what was staring at me in the face. Percy wasn't exactly a rare name. In fact, it was pretty common in the UK. ( _This isn't the UK though, Annabeth_ , my mind whispered. I valiantly ignored it.) Maybe this was just a coincidence.

Before I could form a reply, the door was ripped open. The son of Jupiter stood in the doorway, his body backlit so that only his silhouette was visible. His hand moved for his sword hilt. "I heard yelling. Is everything okay?" Jason's voice was steady, like a calm breeze in the fall.

"Luke?"

The voice rang in my ears. I held back a flinch at the sound of it, and the very audible unshakable trust in the kid's voice. Memories of my childhood flashed through my head—all the years spent idolizing a guy who had been my friend, older brother, and father figure all wrapped into one.

I could barely make out Jason's frown in the darkness. The Roman stepped fully into the cabin, flipping on the light switch. My eyes blinked against the harsh light before adjusting.

The kid gasped. Then, he was standing between Jason and me, brandishing an uncapped Riptide.

Riptide. _Anaklusmos_. Percy's weapon. That was the final piece of the puzzle. It wasn't a coincidence after all (though, honestly, I had never truly believed it to be in the first place). This was _actually_ my boyfriend. Had he gotten on the wrong side of an immortal being again, and this was his punishment? Or had he and Leo banded with the Hecate cabin in order to execute some stupid prank? Either sounded likely.

"Who are you people?" The boy—Percy—demanded. He tried to appear intimating, but given that he was short even compared to fifth grader standards and his laurel crown kept falling into his eyes, he managed to look as intimating as a baby seal.

"Oh, uh, look, kid. Just put the sword down, okay?" The son of the sky god said, his hands open in reassurance. "We come in peace."

I mentally face palmed.

Little Percy's blade dipped a few inches before he finally recapped it. Jason's eyebrows drew together. "How'd you get that sword?"

The young demigod looked from Jason to the pen in his hands then back again. "Uh, an old centaur gave it to me?"

Jason tried to come up with a reply before shaking his head. "Never mind. My name is Jason Grace, by the way. What's yours?" He held out a hand.

The half-blood stared at it for a moment, not shaking the offering limb. Instead, he twirled his pen between his fingers and pocketed it. "I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."

My gray eyes widen at the confirmation of my suspicions. Jason's mouth dropped open and then closed. And then open and closed once more. When he finally found his voice again, he turned to me, trying to school his expression and failing. "Annabeth?"

"Annabeth? She's here?" The child version of Percy glanced around wildly, as if I could just pop up out of thin air. Which, technically, I could, with the aid of my invisibility cap.

"Uhhh, she's right there." The blond pointed a finger at me, his face utterly confused.

Mini Percy whipped his head toward me, his eyes widening as he stared at me. Suddenly, he burst into nervous laughter. "Yeah, nice try, but that's not Annabeth. She isn't that old."

I glared at him. This was _definitely_ Percy at age twelve. Either way, I didn't appreciate being called old by my boyfriend. "Looks like it is, Seaweed Brain."

The boy's laughs immediately quieted. His face turned green, as if he was about to upchuck all over the floor. "W-what? But how—why are you—I mean—"

"We should go see Chiron." I interrupted Percy's babbling. Both little Percy and regular-size Jason nodded at me, their faces in an equal state of confusion.

When neither moved, I huffed and began pulling both of them by the wrist, dragging them to the Big House. Jason soon snapped out of his stupor, walking to the blue house by his own violation. Percy, on the other hand, was still stuck in his daze, mumbling to himself incoherently.

Once we got to the porch, I barged in, not bothering to knock. Only when we reached Chiron's office did I bring my fist up to pound on the door. A slightly muffled, tired-sounding "come in" was heard. I walked inside. The old centaur was sitting behind his desk in his wheelchair. He looked up upon my arrival.

"Annabeth, what is this about? Did he have another flashback or…" Chiron trailed off as he spotted the small form at my side. If he had been in his horse form, he probably would have fallen right then.

"Chiron, what's going on?" Percy spoke up. His voice was much higher-pitched than what he'd had just a couple hours ago.

"Ah, what is going on indeed…" Chiron stroked his short beard, his forehead wrinkling.

The son of Jupiter shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Sir, can you please explain to us why Percy's now ten?"

"Hey!" Percy protested. "I'm twelve!"

That certainly didn't clear anything up for Jason, who was getting more uncomfortable by the moment. I didn't blame him. Seeing the twelve-year-old version of your seventeen-year-old friend was pretty disconcerting.

Chiron rubbed his temples. "I honestly haven't a clue. Please tell us, Annabeth, how you came to find him like this?"

"I was sleeping, but a scream woke me up. I thought it was—" I glanced nervously at young Percy, "you know who, but when I went over to check, he was like that."

My mentor nodded thoughtfully before turning his gaze toward the miniature version of my boyfriend. "And what do you remember, Perseus?"

Percy frowned at the use of his full name but complied. "Uh, I just got back from my quest with Annabeth."

"You're going to have to be more specific than that," I muttered.

The half-blood glared at me, continuing. "We just finished our quest to return the Lightning Bolt."

"Interesting…" the centaur mumbled.

"What's interesting?" Percy asked, getting irritated with this entire situation.

"He's not wearing the same clothes that Percy was before going to bed," said Chiron. "So my guess is that young Percy here has somehow jumped five years into the future."

The three of us demigods stood there in shock. So, this wasn't just some elaborate hoax that my boyfriend and Leo had whipped up, like I was hoping. This was the _actual_ twelve-year-old Percy. Which brought up the question…

"If this is the Percy from five years ago… Then what happened to our Percy?" Jason voiced my thoughts.

"Isn't it obvious?" Percy was the one who spoke up, surprising everyone. "He's back at the bonfire."

 _The bonfire?_ I thought. Then it clicked in my mind. He had said that he'd just gotten back from our first quest. The laurel wreath around his head suddenly made a lot more sense now; he had come straight from the party in honor of our successful quest. That meant that Luke hadn't poisoned him yet. Which meant… my boyfriend had been sucked back in time, and had to face his ultimate betrayer once again.

In the words of Seaweed Brain himself: oh, schist.

* * *

Percy the Elder

 **Getting vacuumed into space** was not what I was expecting. Don't let Doctor Who fool you; it is not just some fun trip zooming through colorful spirals and spacey stuff. If I were to compare it to something, I'd say it almost felt like falling into Tartarus again (cue shiver), except this time a chain was wrapped around my stomach, dragging me down at hypersonic speeds, and gravity compressed me into a puddle of Percy-goo. Next time you feel like becoming the new Marty McFly, my advice is: don't.

The experience lasted an eternity, yet a millisecond at the same time. One instant I was being sucked through a black vortex of pain, and the next I was sprawled out in the dirt. I suppressed a groan. That had definitely busted up my ribs again, and more than a few of my stitches broke. Blinking mud out of my eyes, I shifted to my knees.

Wait, mud? Wasn't I just in my cabin?

The clatter of metal echoed around me. Looking up, I came face-to-face with a knife. My eyes had to cross to see the tip of it.

"Who are you?" The wielder of the bronze knife demanded, causing me to turn my attention to the person. I was met with a pair of angry gray eyes. Familiar angry gray eyes.

"A-annabeth?" I stammered out.

The blonde girl's eyes narrowed further, but before she could respond, a deep voice shouted. "Annabeth, back off of him."

My mind was frozen, not comprehending what was happening. The twelve-year-old lowered her blade, but continued to glare at me as she stepped aside. The other kids surrounding me put their weapons down too, a wide mix of emotions on their faces. They parted down the middle to make a path for someone. As the guy got closer, dread settled into my stomach. I suddenly got a suspicion of what the black void had been.

When the guy finally reached to where I was kneeling, he leveled a sword at me. The scar across his face was harsh in the firelight. I swallowed down the nausea that threatened to overwhelm me. This couldn't be happening. He was dead. I saw him die in front of me. But as I continued to stare at him with my jaw on the ground, the truth sunk in.

Standing in front of me was Luke Castellan, and he did _not_ look happy.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for both of those cliffhangers! Did you enjoy the chapter? Any predictions of what's gonna happen or how they got switched? I'm interested in hearing what you have to say.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews! I read all of them, and they always make me smile. Also, thanks to everyone who followed or favorited this story. I love you all!**

 **Stay classy,**

 **~Wrendsor**


	4. Just Call Me Marty McFly

**A/N: Hello again. Here is another chapter for you guys! I just wanna thank everyone for such a great response to this story. I love all of your reviews, and the favorites and follows are much appreciated! To all my fellow Americans out there, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving. To people not living in the US, I wish you a happy random Thursday. :)**

* * *

Percy the Younger

 **I was confused**. That was normal for me, but this time, I was _majorly_ confused. Apparently, I had switched places with the seventeen-year-old me, meaning that I was now five years in the future. _I_ was in the _future_. Great. Awesome. Right when I had thought my life couldn't get any weirder, this happens. First I found out that I'm the kid of the freaking sea god, and now I'm Marty McFly. What was next, aliens?

 _Oh gods, please tell me I didn't just jinx that._

The older, scarier version of Annabeth had grabbed me by the wrist and was dragging me out of the Big House. Chiron had told us to leave and come back in the morning when he had the time to think the situation over.

The blond guy—Jason, was it?—trailed a few steps behind us. My feet tripped up as Annabeth walked briskly to gods-knew-where. With her suddenly mile-long legs, I had to practically jog to keep up with her. Finally having enough of being tugged along, I dug my heels into the ground.

"Stop dragging me, Annabeth. I'm not a dog." I ripped my arm from her grasp, massaging it to get the blood flowing again.

The daughter of Athena sighed, running her fingers through her curly hair. "What am I going to do with you?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "You could start by explaining some things, like what the Hades is going on."

"I'd like to know that, too. It looks like we're both in the dark," she grumbled.

"What? Wise Girl doesn't know something for once? The world must be ending."

Annabeth clenched her jaw, her eyes swirling like storm clouds. Thankfully, Jason stepped in before I crumbled under Annabeth's death glare. "Hey, it's really late guys, and I'm not in the mood for your bickering."

The seventeen-year-old version of my friend rolled her eyes. "Fine, Jason. Take Percy to his cabin. I'm going to bed."

Jason's eyebrows furrowed. "But what about—"

"I'm going to cabin six," she put extra emphasis on the six part.

Jason nodded, as if Annabeth being a daughter of Athena was some big revelation. I shot him a questioning look, which he ignored, instead saying bye to Annabeth. As she left, Jason's eyes lingered on her, his face worried.

I cocked my head. "Are you two, like, a couple or something?" A bad taste filled my mouth.

The teenager jumped. "Huh? Of course not. Why'd you think that?"

I shrugged. "You seem awfully concerned about her just walking to her own cabin."

Jason's cheeks were tinged pink. "No, that's not why—ugh, just forget it. I'm dating someone else."

A wave of relief washed over me. I told myself it was just because I was protective over my friend. "Really? Do I know her?"

"Yeah. Or well, you didn't back then—er, now. I mean, you don't, but the Percy from _my_ time does."

"I'm not even going to pretend to understand that."

Jason laughed. "This could get complicated."

"You don't say?"

The blond and I started walking toward the cabin area. My nerves crawled as we moved in silence. This whole situation was like grade-A craziness. I'd thought I'd maxed out on the crazy meter after going on the quest to rescue a Lightning Bolt, but apparently not. Beside me, Jason tapped his fingers against his leg. He looked uncomfortable to be next to me.

After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Jason couldn't handle it. "Okay, what's with the flower crown?"

"It's a laurel wreath," I corrected him. "And it's supposedly a high honor or something."

"Hm."

We lapsed back into silence after that. By now, the cabins finally came into view. Seeing them, I stumbled to a stop. "Uh, where did the extra cabins come from?"

I hadn't really been paying attention as Annabeth dragged me to the Big House. It was probably from post-time-travel-shock or something like that. Instead of the normal twelve cabins in an omega shape, there were at least twenty, and more were still under construction. I gaped at them, noticing one made of obsidian that seemed to draw all the shadows toward it, and another one that was the complete opposite, having every color imaginable thrown on it.

Jason chuckled at my expression. "Yeah, it's pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"Why are there so _many_?"

"They're the cabins for the minor gods."

I remembered my time in cabin eleven. Of all those unhappy unclaimed demigods in there, how many had been children of minor gods? A smile lit up my face. "That's... that's really nice."

Jason looked at me like a proud father. "It is, Percy. It really is."

"Uh huh," I gave him a weird look, confused. We made our way passed the random assortment of cabins, stopping at the one marked with a number three. I opened the door, breathing in the familiar sea breeze that greeted me. Jason stood awkwardly at the bottom of the porch.

I paused before entering, peering back at Jason. "I forgot to ask, who're you the son of?"

"Jupiter," he responded.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "You're from Jupiter? So, aliens _are_ a thing in the future?" Crap, maybe I _had_ jinxed it.

Jason snorted. "Actually, Jupiter is… Well, it's complicated. Let's just say that Jupiter is a sky god."

"Like Zeus?"

The demigod smiled at that. "Yeah, exactly like Zeus."

I wrinkled my nose. "Well, hopefully your dad is nicer than the king god. Zeus isn't a fan of me."

Jason burst into laughter. "That, I am well aware of, Percy."

"Well, goodnight, I guess," I muttered.

"G'night, Percy."

After closing the door behind myself, I slid down it. Leaning my head back, I groaned. "What have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

Annabeth the Younger

 **After completing a quest with him** , I'd come to the conclusion that Percy Jackson wasn't _all_ bad. Sure, everything that came out of his mouth was either sarcastic or impertinent, and he acted so stupid sometimes that I was convinced that he did it just to annoy me, but going through a life-or-death situation had forced a bond between us that I dared call the kindling of great friendship.

He was still a Seaweed Brain, though.

The bonfire blazed a golden yellow, reflecting the jubilant mood that all the campers shared. Around me, my siblings talked about various projects they had started while I was gone. Malcolm was giving a very passionate speech about George Washington—a favorite topic of his, given that the first president had been a child of Athena as well. His arm motions were so exaggerated that his s'more flew out of his hand and smacked an Ares kid in the back of the head.

While Malcolm attempted to talk an angry daughter of Ares out of homicide, I took the chance to look around for Luke. I hadn't seen him since the banquet, and even then the son of Hermes had been acting strange. My original guess was that he felt awkward about the whole celebration because his own failed quest, but that didn't seem like him. Luke would have been proud of me. So, where was he now?

Instead of the blond son of Hermes, my eyes landed on Percy. He looked as if he had just spotted Cerberus, his face completely drained of color. He whispered something to Grover as his eyes darted around. I squinted at the two boys, my suspicions rising.

Crossing my arms, I marched over to the half-blood and satyr. "What are you two talking about?"

Percy held his hands up. "Nothing, I swear. We were just—" Suddenly, he went rim-rod straight. He spun around, his hand drifting to where Riptide was concealed.

"What is it, Seaweed Brain?" I asked, trying to appear aloof. Percy seemed genuinely spooked. Usually I would have trusted his demigod instincts, especially after the Hellhound incident during Capture the Flag (we still had yet to find the person who did it), but my own gut feeling told me that nothing was out of place.

The son of Poseidon opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out, he froze once again. I was about to suggest a trip to the infirmary when there was a brilliant flash of light. I immediately shielded my eyes so that I wasn't blinded. The half-bloods all screamed and shouted in surprise. The light only lasted for a couple seconds before disappearing as quickly as it came.

My knife was already in my hand by the time my eyes readjusted. I gave the amphitheater a onceover before noticing that nothing had changed—except for one thing: Percy was gone. Grover came to the same realization as me. His bearded chin trembled slightly as he frantically searched the crowd for his missing friend.

A groan zapped me out of my thoughts. Looking down, I saw a figure sprawled out in the dirt, in the same spot that Percy had been standing. Grover moved to help the person up, but I held him back. As the guy shifted to his knees, the demigods around me unsheathed their weapons.

Before the stranger could stand up, I shoved my blade in his face. "Who are you?"

My weapon gained the guy's attention. He whipped his head up, staring into my eyes. The person's black hair was mussed up like he'd just woken up, and his face was now covered in dirt, making it hard to pinpoint his features. His eyes, though—they reminded me of something.

"A-annabeth?" His voice came out shaky, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

I narrowed my gaze at him, tightening my grip on my knife. He knew my name. How? And those _eyes_ —I must know this guy, I _must_.

"Annabeth, back off of him," a strong voice called out. All my nerves were immediately soothed, and my muscles relaxed somewhat. Luke was here.

I lowered my blade, taking a couple steps back. A few Demeter and Aphrodite kids moved aside to let the nineteen-year-old through. Luke's jaw was set as he approached the unidentified person still kneeling in the mud. The son of Hermes leveled a Celestial Bronze sword at the stranger's throat.

"Answer her question," he said stonily. "Who are you?"

The stranger's mouth was hanging open as he stared at Luke. After a few awkward moments of silence, Luke pushed the tip of his blade harder into the guy's flesh, drawing a droplet of blood. That seemed to snap him out of his trance.

The raven-haired teenager squeezed his eyes shut. "Please tell me I'm dreaming."

"Unless you're dreaming of a sword through your throat, that's unlikely." Luke growled.

Grover shifted on his hooves, looking extremely uncomfortable to be standing beside the new person. His nose twitched constantly, like he was about to sneeze.

The unknown teen sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Fine." I stepped up next to Luke, ignoring the disapproving glance he sent my way. "Give us one reason why we shouldn't kill you."

The stranger's eyes moved from Luke's to mine. I could read all of the emotions flickering across his face that he tried to conceal: confusion, fear, grief, excitement, hesitation. His eyes raged like a hurricane.

…Like a _hurricane_.

It suddenly dawned on me where I knew him from—the reason why Percy had disappeared right when this stranger showed up. It was because, however crazy it sounded, this person _was_ Percy.

My eyebrows drew together. "…Seaweed Brain?"

A smirk suddenly lit up the newcomer's face. That stupid, crooked, trouble-maker smirk that I hated to no ends (because _di immortals_ , it was so annoying and enduring at the same time—and Hades, why did it I find it so _cute_?). "I knew there was a reason I call you Wise Girl."

I swallowed hard. Grover bleated, and several campers actually dropped their weapons. Sheathing his sword, Luke frowned. "Head Counselors meeting, now. Everyone else, go to your cabins."

Some of the demigods grumbled as they trudged to their respective cabins, their heads turning back every once in a while in curiosity. My focus remained on the teenage boy in front of me, who was apparently my best friend. How did this happen? Maybe the flash of light had aged him a couple years? After all, he had been the one who noticed it first.

The old version of Percy grunted as he struggled to his feet. His right arm was wrapped around his ribs like they pained him, and his left upper arm was covered in red-stained bandages. He wobbled dangerously. Grover scrambled to catch him before he fell, resulting in the satyr getting squished under the full weight of teenage boy.

"Um, help?" Grover squeaked.

Luke came forward and hulled Percy back to his feet. The son of Poseidon shoved him feebly. "'M fine."

The blond rolled his eyes. "Sure you are." He slung Percy's uninjured arm over his shoulders. Percy visibly held back a grimace.

"How did you get hurt?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh, uh, long story." Percy muttered.

The gears in my mind were on hyper-drive. Twelve-year-old Percy hadn't been injured, so that left two options. Either, A, this wasn't Percy at all and just a monster in disguise; or B… this was the Percy from a different time (and, yes, that sounded insane even in my thoughts).

With Luke acting as Percy's human crutch, the four of us made it to the Big House in an awkward silence. I entered the rec room first, seeing all the other counselors already surrounding the ping-pong table. As Luke entered with a half-lucid Percy, Charles Beckendorf, head of Hephaestus, pulled out a chair. The son of Poseidon settled into it with a sigh, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Grover took a seat as well, nervously tugging at the pipes around his neck. Luke remained standing, and I elected to do the same.

Thankfully, someone had summoned Chiron before we came. The centaur stood in the back of the room in his horse form, gazing at the elder Percy with an unreadable expression. "Your shirt, child. Where did you get it?" Though his voice seemed calm, I could sense the strain on it.

That was an odd question to ask. Apparently, the others thought so too, if their faces were anything to go by. I looked at the shirt he was wearing more intently. It was purple, and roughed up like he'd just finished a monster fight and hadn't gotten the chance to change. There were the letters SPQR in gold across it, surrounded by laurel branches. Although it hadn't been the orange camp shirt I'd been expecting, there was nothing suspicious about it beside the fact that SPQR was a Roman phrase. But, I knew that Percy took Latin in his old school, so maybe it was just a school club shirt or something.

Percy took a deep breath as if to brace himself, before reopening his eyes. He glanced down at his shirt, shrugging. "Rome? California? Take your pick. Same difference, really."

As Chiron grew more pale, everyone else grew more confused.

"So, you wanna fill the rest of us in, Chiron?" asked Luke.

"He can't," Percy answered instead. "He made an oath not to. And you know how _that_ goes—only gods can break them."

Lee Fletcher snorted. "Man, how have the gods _not_ killed you yet?"

Percy's jaw clenched slightly, his eyes flickering over to the son of Apollo for barely a second. "It's not for lack of trying."

"Let's get back on track here, guys," said Luke. He narrowed his eyes at Percy. "How do we know you're who you say you are?"

"C'mon, you don't actually _believe_ this punk, do you? There's no way he's Prissy." Clarisse LaRue scoffed, folding her arms over her chest.

Percy rubbed his face tiredly. "Look, this all seems pretty unbelievable to me—and trust me, I've seen some crazy things. All I know is that somehow I've been tossed back, like, five years in the past."

"We want to believe you, Percy, we really do," Silena, the counselor for the Aphrodite cabin, consoled. "But this is all a little much, even for us. Maybe you could give us some proof?"

Looking at the daughter of Aphrodite, the son of Poseidon's face became as unreadable as a Chinese manuscript. "Like, show you my water powers or…?"

The fifteen-year-old nodded. "That would work."

Percy shifted in his chair, closing his eyes. After a few tense moments, a puddle of water seeped under the shut door. With a flick of his wrist, the liquid formed into a sphere the size of a soccer ball. Following his movements, it zoomed to the top of his head, where Percy finally let go of his hold over it. The ball of water cascaded down on him, though he remained completely dry. A breath of relief escaped his lips, and he sat up a little straighter as he opened his eyes.

"Is that proof enough?" He asked. I noticed that his voice was a lot stronger than it had been a couple seconds ago. The quick bath must have energized him.

All the half-bloods sitting around the ping-pong table nodded, their faces in various stages of astonishment. My brain was just as surprised, though I refrained from showing it. Now that I knew for certain this was the Percy of the future, it brought to mind dozens of questions. How was time travel possible? I'd never heard of such a thing happening before in any of the myths. I also wondered what the future was like. Were Percy and I still friends? Had I become an architect? What about the Great Prophesy that Chiron had warned me about?

Since everyone was too busy staring at Percy and Chiron was still reeling from the purple shirt, I decided to take the initiative. "So, you're Percy from the future. How old are you?"

"I turned seventeen a month ago," he responded.

"Seventeen?" Chiron asked, surprised.

The time traveling demigod nodded. "Yep. I'm an official dancing queen now."

A couple kids snorted. The centaur looked like the entire weight of the sky had been lifted off his shoulders. A smile lit up his age-worn face. "That's good to hear, Perseus, extremely good."

Percy's eyes flicked to me briefly. "Couldn't have done it without help."

" _Soo_ ," Lee intervened, "what can you tell us about the future? Did I get my medical degree? Wait, no, don't tell me—I'm a famous rock star."

"Erm," Percy mumbled.

"Don't answer him, Percy," I scolded. "Who knows what this could do to the time stream? Your coming here could've messed everything up already."

The son of Poseidon's eyes blew wide. Startled, he whipped his head toward me. "What did you just say?"

I frowned. "You could mess up the time stream by being here? It's called the butterfly effect. Just one small change to the past could drastically change the future."

Suddenly, Percy flew off his chair. He pinned Luke against the wall, Riptide held threateningly under the son of Hermes's chin. "What—did—you— _do_?!" He yelled. The ground shook around him, throwing the rest of us off our feet. Since when had Percy been able to create earthquakes?

Luke stared at the sword pointed at him, a sliver of fear flashing through his eyes. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"What the Hades, Percy?" I shouted at him, but he completely ignored me. Rain blew in from the open window, soaking everyone.

"Don't act stupid, Luke. I know you're working for _him_." Percy growled out.

Luke's face hardened. "You're crazy. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Percy slammed him into the wall again. "Stop lying! How did he manage this? _How_?" It was like a switch had been flipped inside of him, the Percy I knew completely gone. But, maybe this _was_ Percy. He came from five years in the future; who knew what could have happened in that span of time.

Beckendorf pushed himself to his feet, struggling to keep his balance as the tremors in the ground grew stronger. Clarisse was the next one standing. They both moved to help their camp leader. The daughter of Ares wrenched Riptide out of Percy's grasp, and Beck wrapped his arms around the half-blood's torso to restrain him. Percy struggled against Beckendorf, but despite the son of Hephaestus's inferior age, he still had Percy beat when it came to muscular strength. After a few more seconds of him flailing, the son of Poseidon's eyes rolled back and he went limp.

Luke sucked in a breath, rubbing his rapidly bruising throat. I pushed a chair off of myself, readjusting the laurel wreath on my head, and hobbled back to my feet with the rest of the fallen counselors.

Lee whistled. "Did Percy become cuckoo or something?"

"Maybe traveling through time made him confused?" Katie Gardner suggested.

"Or," Luke said, pushing himself off of the wall, "he's gone rogue."

"Percy would never do that." Grover croaked. He tried to look sure of himself, but the way he nervously nibbled on a soda can ruined the image.

I was conflicted. On the one hand, I trusted Percy with my life, but after that little display of his… "What did Percy mean, Luke? Working for whom?"

The Hermes counselor raised his eyebrow at me. "Hades if I know. He was just saying nonsense."

Chiron looked as conflicted as I did. He cleared his throat. "Charles, Castor, move Perseus to the basement, please. Lee, go with them, too; his injuries need to be taken care of. Make sure to restrain him as a precaution. We don't need him attacking any of our other campers before we have the chance to settle this out."

Castor, Dionysus's son, helped Beck carry the unconscious demigod out of the room with Lee right behind them. I walked over to Luke, leveling him with a concerned gaze. "Are you really okay? It looked like you got slammed pretty hard."

The nineteen-year-old chuckled and rubbed the top of my head, causing my laurel crown to get messed up once again. "I'm good, Annie."

But his eyes said differently. They were filled with turmoil, like the sky right before a storm broke.

I shoved his hand off. "I'm serious. We haven't found the Lightning Thief yet; Ares couldn't have stolen it himself."

Luke's face shut down. He must have forgotten that the traitor of the gods was still running around his camp. "Don't worry about that. I'm sure the person who did it will be caught eventually."

I nodded, biting my lip.

Luke frowned, nudging my shoulder. "That's not all you're worried about, is it?"

"It's just that…" I paused, collecting my thoughts. "Percy from five years in the future is here."

"…And?"

"So, where's _our_ Percy?"

Luke's eyebrows rose, catching my drift. "You think he's in the future now."

"If he didn't get lost in the time stream, then yes."

The son of Hermes pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Okay. I'll talk with Chiron, see what he thinks of all this. And maybe weasel something out of him about why that shirt is so important."

After saying our goodbyes, I exited the rec room. My mind was still troubling over everything that had happened in the past hour. There were so many unanswered questions. Peering up and down the hallway to make sure the coast was clear, I slipped on my invisibility cap.

I needed answers, and I knew exactly where to find them.

* * *

 **A/N: You know the drill: leave any comments, questions, or suggestions in the reviews or PM me. I always love hearing your thoughts! If you have any ideas, feel free to shoot them my way. Also, if you feel at any time that someone isn't in character, then be sure to tell me. Thanks again!**

 **Later,**

 **~Wrendsor**


	5. (Don't) Give Yourself to the Dark Side

**A/N: Hello! It's been so long. Sorry for the horrible wait. Finals hit me hard, so I had to spend most of my time doing schoolwork (yuck). But I'm back now, thanks to Winter break. This can be like an early Christmas present. :)**

* * *

Percy the Elder

 **I was getting really tired** of nightmares. You'd think that after having them nearly every night, they'd be old news. But that wasn't the case. Each new bad dream just brought with it new terror. Life sucked that way. The nightmare I found myself having this time wasn't the normal post-hell dream; instead, it was one of my memories.

 _A jar of thick green liquid was suddenly tossed into my hands, along with a roll of duct tape._

 _"Slap that one on the console. I'll get the turbines."_

 _It was Beck who said it. A flash of grief mixed with guilt washed over me as I looked at my dead best friend. He was only a year older than me now. He wore black camo pants with a golden chest plate. Sadly, I couldn't watch him for very long as the memory continued to play out._

 _We went to work planting the bombs in the_ Princess Andromeda _. The room was hot and humid, leaving us drenched in sweat. I tried to stop myself. These were the bombs that cost Beckendorf his life. Maybe if I just broke free, I'd be able to save him, but it was like I was a robot going through the motions._

 _Then I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps_ _—_ _so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign. My eyes locked with Beckendorf's. "How much longer?"_

 _"Too long." He tapped his watch—the detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least."_

 _But we only had about ten seconds._

 _"I'll distract them," I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."_

 _"Percy—"_

 _I wanted to say how sorry I was that I couldn't save him. I wanted to hug him, or at least tell him bye. Instead, all that came out of my mouth was, "Wish me luck."_

 _The son of Hephaestus frowned, looking like he wanted to argue. "Good luck," he said._

 _I charged out the door._

 _Time sped up after that, like someone had pressed the fast-forward button on a TV remote. I bulled through the sea-demons on the stairs in the blink of an eye. The giant crab on the deck of the yacht was no match for me and was reduced to dust in seconds. Now weaponless, I climbed up the stairwell, only stopping briefly to tell a young demigod to round up all his friends and abandon ship._

 _I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted._

 _All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad—our emergency rendezvous point. Maybe this time, Beckendorf would meet me there and we'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges from a quarter mile away. Then Beck wouldn't have to die._

 _I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "You're late, Percy."_

 _Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-age guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold. Unlike Hazel's warm, melted gold eyes, these were hard and sharp—as if just looking into them would be enough to cut me in half. They were the same eyes that continued to haunt my dreams to this day._

 _"We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful—the voice of the Titan lord. The words scraped down my spine like a knife blade. I resisted the urge to shudder at the familiarity of it. "Come, bow before me."_

 _"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered._

 _Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. The trap had been sprung._

 _I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. Kronos was in control of his body right now, but I knew Luke was still in there. He'd eventually fight the Titan for control and win long enough to kill himself._

 _"Come forward," the possessed son of Hermes announced. "If you dare."_

 _A cruel smile twisted on Kronos's face, distorting the scar that ran down his cheek. A wave of hatred roared up in my gut. The Titan lord had killed so many of my friends. I knew where his weak spot was now. Maybe if I tried hard enough, I could stab it with my blade._

 _The crowd of monsters parted around me as I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword._

 _Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands—a six-foot-long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn to Jell-O. I remembered how much it hurt to be touched by that thing. But before I could change my mind, I charged._

 _Time slowed down. I mean, it literally slowed down, because Kronos had that power. It felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. The Titan smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death._

 _I tried to fight his magic, but it was like trying to lift a ten ton boulder. Concentrating on the sea around me, I channeled all my powers into it. Like the first time, nothing happened._

 _I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. Dracaenae hissed with laughter._ Hey, ocean _, I pleaded._ Any day now would be good _._

 _All of the sudden, there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the spell, and I lunged forward._

 _I struck at the Titan, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake of looking at his face—Luke's face—a guy who was once my friend. I didn't want to kill him. But Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back, and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting a gash in the deck right between my feet._

 _I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator._

 _Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only deflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. Immediately, my entire side exploded with agony. I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away._

 _Everything seemed to slow down, though this time it wasn't from Kronos. My eyes locked onto the Titan, whose face held a triumphant smirk. My vision tunneled. Dripping from his large scythe was a trail of dark, red blood—my blood._

 _Time resumed. I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade would've run him through if he was normal, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. He still had the Curse of Achilles, which meant that he only had one weak spot. I knew that I'd never be able to reach it in my condition._

 _Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."_

 _My vision started to blur. There wasn't much time now. "Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was_ his _head."_

 _"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."_

 _"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision._

 _"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face—Luke's face—seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?" He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!"_

 _"Success, my lord," Ethan called back. "We found him just as we were told."_

 _A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the demigod had saved mine when he refused to share my mortal spot with Kronos. Seeing him again was like a slap in the face._

 _Ethan clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off._

 _"No!" I yelled._

 _Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it, and that was the detonator. Nausea swelled in my stomach._

 _"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"_

 _"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"_

 _"He was going toward the engine room, my lord."_

 _"How do you know that?"_

 _"Er..." Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."_

 _Of course, that wasn't true. Beckendorf had thought on his feet and managed to fool them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire was still primed._

 _Kronos hesitated. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand. "Open his bag," he ordered._

 _One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches._

 _Anger rolled off the Titan in waves. "Did you, perhaps," he seethed, "capture this demigod near the galley?"_

 _Ethan turned pale. "Um—"_

 _"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"_

 _The son of Nemesis scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran._

 _Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again. They were filled with grim determination. He knew he wasn't getting out of this alive. The zero sign he gave me confirmed it._

 _Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."_

 _He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm—the Titan lord's symbol._

 _The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think, but I muttered, "Communication device… spy at camp." And I knew exactly who the spy was, but she had made up for it with her heroic death. Still, that didn't erase all the death her actions caused, including her own boyfriend's._

 _Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."_

 _I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would._

 _Beckendorf mouthed one word:_ Go _._

 _I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him. I wouldn't do that. Not again._

 _The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly—toward the watch on his right wrist._

 _I wanted to scream,_ NO _!_

 _But it was too late.  
_

* * *

 **Suddenly, my eyes ripped open** , the sounds of the explosion echoing in my ears. I sucked in a panicked breath, only to grimace as my ribs grinded together.

"You still drool in your sleep."

I whipped my head up so fast it almost gave my whiplash. A twelve-year-old girl with curly blonde princess hair stood in front of me with her arms crossed. Narrowed gray eyes glared at me suspiciously.

And then today's events came rushing back like a tsunami. I was in the past. _Schist_. I'd hoped that that had been part of the dream, but apparently not. Why did this kind of stuff always happen to me?

I tried to stand but met resistance. Looking down, I saw that someone had tied my arms to the armrests of a wooden chair. A quick glance at my surroundings confirmed that I was tied up in the basement of the Big House.

"We had to restrain you," mini Annabeth informed me.

"Why's that?"

The daughter of Athena clenched her little fists. "Don't play dumb with me, Jackson. You attacked Luke out of nowhere. I want to know why you did it."

Although Annabeth hated things being kept from her, I automatically knew that I couldn't tell her the truth. It would ruin her. Luke was practically her big brother; she idolized him.

"I didn't wait an hour for you to wake up just to talk to a brick wall," she said angrily. "Some of the others think you've gone rogue."

"Do you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I think you deserve a chance to explain yourself before I pass judgement."

"That's very _wise_ of you, Wise Girl."

"Again with the nickname?" She made a face.

"C'mon, you love it."

Annabeth scoffed. "One would think that after five years, you'd finally manage to grow up."

I pouted. "Now that hurt, Annabeth. I am very mature."

She rolled her eyes. "I've met ten-year-olds more mature than you."

Crisis averted? Check. Point one for Percy.

"And don't think I've forgotten that you haven't answered my question."

Well, it was worth a shot. Annabeth had laser-focus for someone with ADHD. Before I was forced to come up with a somewhat convincing lie, the door at the top of the staircase squeaked open.

The twelve-year-old version of my girlfriend gave me a look that said, ' _don't think this conversation is over_ ,' before slipping on her Yankee's cap and disappearing. Footsteps thudded down the stairs until the person finally reached the bottom. Let's see… furry legs, bearded chin, and a Rasta hat? There was only one person who fit that description: Grover Underwood. His horns weren't as grown, and he wasn't as tall, but he was still definitely my satyr friend. In his hand, he carried a tall glass of golden liquid.

Seeing that there was no serious threat of being caught, Annabeth shimmered back into view. Grover jumped, the cup nearly slipping out of his fingers. "Blah-ah! Annabeth, don't do that!"

Annabeth shoved her baseball cap into her back pocket. "What are you doing here, Grover?"

"What am _I_ doing here?" Grover bleated. "What're _you_ doing here?"

The young daughter of Athena rolled her eyes. "Did you seriously think I'd go back to my cabin without answers?"

"She has a point," I piped in.

Grover sniffed. "Chiron told me to give Percy this for his injuries. Lee already fixed the stitches."

Annabeth nodded before addressing me. "Why did you need stitches anyway? I thought both ambrosia and water worked to heal you."

"A Krok bit me." I shrugged.

The satyr's eyebrows skyrocketed. "You got attacked by a crocodile?"

"Not this time." At their confused faces, I quickly continued. "It was a Leukrokottas. Decided I looked like a chew toy."

"The hyena-like monsters that mimic voices? I thought they were only found in Africa." Annabeth said skeptically.

"Yeah, well, the monsters are scattered all over the place now."

"And why's that?" She questioned.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Wasn't it you who told me not to share about the future? Something about butterflies and stuff?"

"It's called the butterfly effect," she corrected. "And that's only one theory about time travel. Another is the paradox theory, which states that anything you do in the past has already been played out in your future, meaning that attempting to change the past is impossible, so everything you do now is moot as it has already happened."

I blinked. "I only understood about half of that."

Grover sniffed again. He put the drink in my face. "Here, drink."

I scrunched my nose. "Can't you untie me so I can do it myself?"

Grover shook his head. "We can't risk that until we know you're safe. Sorry, man."

Scowling, I did as I was told. The nectar tasted like Mom's cookies, making me homesick. At least I could breathe properly again.

"So…" Grover shifted on his hooves. "Why'd you go all crazy on Luke?"

"I didn't go _crazy_ on him," I defended myself.

"Dude," he deadpanned. "I'm pretty sure all of Long Island felt that earthquake."

So I might have lost control of myself for a little bit. But my anger was justified. There was only one person I knew of who could control time, and if _he_ had gathered enough power to send me back in time, then that was bad news. Worse than bad news, actually. And right now, Luke was the only one who might have some answers. So I had shoved him into a wall. Definitely not the most diplomatic approach. But hey, there was a reason I was only a praetor for a day.

Annabeth frowned. "When did you learn how to generate earthquakes in the first place? No child of Poseidon has had that power before."

"It was, like, three years ago. Long story." I stifled a smile. The first time I summoned an earthquake had been after Annabeth first kissed me. Of course, the moment had been ruined when that volcanic eruption was triggered, but that was besides the point.

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips _—_ her signature thinking face. I could practically see the puzzle pieces clicking together in her mind. "The evil voice in the pit… it was Kronos, wasn't it?"

She already knew the answer, but my nod confirmed it.

"And that's why you freaked out when I mentioned the time stream. You think he's the one behind this."

"I hope I'm wrong. I really, really do. But if I'm not…" I stared into her swirling gray eyes, trying to push down the growing sense of doom in my gut. "A lot of people will die, Annabeth."

And it would be my fault. It had been my job to kill Kronos in the first place. His essence was supposed to have been scattered too far for him to ever come back. So if I had failed to do that, then all the inevitable deaths would be on me.

Grover looked horror-stricken. He gulped, twiddling with the pipes around his neck. "H-how could you be sure it's him? I mean, maybe you just fell into a wormhole or something?"

I shook my head, coming to a realization. That weird, familiar feeling I got right before being tossed back in time _—_ I recognized it now. It was the same knife-scraping-down-my-spine feeling I had whenever the Lord of Time was near. "I'm positive."

Annabeth bit her lip. "When you attacked Luke, you said something about him working for someone. Is he working for Kronos? Is he the Lightning thief?"

Even now at age twelve, Annabeth's quick thinking astounded me. I couldn't think of a good response. Taking my silence for what it was, Annabeth stumbled back.

"But I… he's not… Luke wouldn't…" She took a deep breath. "I knew that he had changed after his quest, but I never thought he'd go that far."

"So you believe me?"

The young half-blood ran her fingers through her hair. "Gods, Percy, I don't want to. But all the clues add up. He's the only one who could've stolen a god's weapon, and the shoes were given to us by him. The motivation is there, too. Hades, that means that he was the one who sicked that hellhound on you!"

She paced back and forth, tugging on a curl absent-mindedly. Grover awkwardly stepped back so that he wouldn't get trampled.

My eyes followed her. "Kronos has been speaking to him in his dreams _—_ manipulating him. It's not Luke's fault."

She stopped suddenly, her back to me. "You said Kronos coming would lead to death. How do you know that?"

My breath hitched in my throat, but I forced myself to remain calm. "Well, the big bad Titan lord gets raised from hell, it's probably not going to end in a nice family dinner."

She turned on her heel, facing me. Her eyes burned into mine. "Don't lie to me. I know you. You wouldn't say something like that without knowing from personal experience."

I tried to keep eye contact with her, but her gaze was too intense. It was like trying to stare straight into the sun. I looked down at my lap.

"Who died, Percy?" She whispered.

My nails dug into the wooden armrests of the chair. All of their names flashed through my mind. There was Zoë, and Bianca, and Castor. Lee, Michael, Ethan. Beckendorf and Silena and so many others. Each name was seared into my memory. I wouldn't be surprised if when I died, the names would be found engraved in my skull.

"Luke was only a pawn in it, just like the rest of us." I didn't know if I was convincing Annabeth or myself.

"I-I have to think this through. It's a lot to take in," the daughter of Athena murmured.

"Y-yeah," Grover stammered. "I'm not ready for anymore revelations, either."

I nodded. "You can take all the time you need, but me coming here has already screwed up my timeline. We don't know what Luke's next move will be now that I'm here."

"Okay." Annabeth rubbed the bridge of her nose like a headache was forming. "We'll talk to Chiron in the morning and see what he thinks about this. In the meantime, get some rest. Time-travel probably messed up your sleep cycle."

"So, um, g'night, Perce." Grover waved before trotting back up the stairs.

Annabeth moved to follow him, but paused right at the bottom step, her hand hovering over the railing. She glanced back at me. "Don't worry, Seaweed Brain. We'll get you back to the future in no time."

I'd learned a long time ago to never bet against Annabeth. But this seemed like an impossible task, even for her.

 _But then again, she's managed to do the impossible before_.

* * *

 **I must have dozed off** , because the next thing I knew, I jerked awake feeling like I had just drunk five Red Bulls. Going from fast asleep to so-awake-that-I-could-run-a-marathon was disorienting, to say the least. Dreams blended with reality. I had no idea where I was.

"Good. You're awake."

Luke stood in front of me, an empty plastic bottle in his hands. For a moment, his eyes were pure gold, but I blinked and they were blue again. Glancing down, I saw a puddle of water around my feet.

"You know, there are nicer ways to wake people up than dumping water on them," I grumbled.

The son of Hermes shrugged, tossing the water bottle aside. "It worked, didn't it?"

I rolled my eyes, turning my attention to the small basement window to my left. Morning light filtered through. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven."

I rolled my shoulders back to try to crack them. Being tied to a chair for over ten hours was killer on my back and neck. Sleeping in that position hadn't helped any. "So… I'm assuming you didn't come down here to release me?"

"You're smarter than people give you credit for."

"Uh, thanks?"

The nineteen-year-old leaned against one of the support pillars. He crossed his arms. A shadow passed over his face as he shifted, throwing half his face into darkness and making the jagged scar down his jaw stand out. He looked weary, and angry. It was the same look I saw every time I looked in the mirror. I tried not to dwell on that.

"So, why did Chiron make a big deal about your shirt?" Luke asked after seconds of nothing but imaginary cricket noises.

I glanced down at my purple SPQR shirt, regretting my choice to not change before going to bed. Then again, this was better than showing up at the campfire in a pair of boxers. "I got it in California. Some of my friends live there."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "And you just felt like getting a matching brand for your arm?"

I shrugged. "It's like a permanent friendship bracelet."

That was close enough to the truth. I mean, it did show that the Greeks and the Romans were united now. Sadly, Luke wasn't buying it.

Before he could push further, I interrupted. "Enough small talk. You came here for a reason, and I think I know why."

The blonde cocked his head. "Fine, I'll bite. Why do you think I came here?"

"You're working for Kronos." I got straight to the point.

He didn't look surprised or frightened that I called him out. In fact, he smiled at me. "Well, I can't deny it now, can I?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You don't have to do this, Luke. You haven't done anything yet that can't be forgiven _—_ you can still walk anyway."

"Why would I walk anyway? The gods have done nothing for me. They just use us like pawns and throw us away when they're tired of us. All the heroics? It's all useless."

My fists clenched. "Luke, believe me, I know how it feels to be a pawn to the gods more than anyone. But siding with Kronos? Come on, even you know that's not the answer."

"The gods should have been overthrown thousands of years ago. The only reason they've managed to hold on this long is because of us half-bloods. But even then, they don't treat us with the respect we deserve. They kill us whenever they feel like it, like Thal-" his voice cracked.

"Thalia wouldn't want you to do this," I said.

A sword was suddenly in my face. The blade gleamed in the dim light, mortal steel and Celestial bronze merged together in one deadly weapon. "Don't talk about her," he growled.

I gritted my teeth together. "She sacrificed herself for you, and this is how you repay her?"

His jaw clenched. "You should have died in Tartarus."

The water at my feet froze. It took me a minute to realize he was talking about the cursed flying shoes that almost dragged Grover into the Pit. My mind was in hyperdrive. I couldn't let Luke fall into Kronos's clutches again. But what could I say to get him to change his mind?

"I know how to bring her back."

The demigod froze. "What?"

"Thalia. I know how to-"

"I know what you said! How?"

"Maybe if you put that away…"

Luke reluctantly sheathed his weapon. "Now talk."

"Well, Thalia didn't actually _die_ die. Zeus just turned her into a tree before she did, and I know how to turn her back."

Luke rubbed his jaw. He began pacing, just like Annabeth had hours before. I wondered if it was a habit she had picked up from him, or if it was just from the ADHD.

"Luke," I started, "Whatever Kronos promised you, it's not going to happen. He just wants power, and he'll do whatever it takes to get it."

The son of Hermes ran his hand through his hair, his face conflicted. "The Titan lord, h-he punished me with nightmares. I swore not to fail him again," he muttered.

Luke was teetering on the edge, but I was running out of counterarguments. If I didn't sway him fast, then I'd lose him. But what could I say that could change months of brainwashing and years of bitterness? "If you help Kronos, he'll just kill everyone. That's not what you want, is it?"

The half-blood shook his head. "Western civilization is a disease, Percy. The gods are killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground _—_ start over with something more honest."

I wanted to scream in exasperation. "Kronos will kill the gods. But, he's not gonna stop there. Demigods will be next, and then the mortals. Do you really want to be the reason for the genocide of billions of innocent people?"

Luke turned his back to me. His muscles were all tensed. I could tell that his mind was at war with itself, trying to contemplate all the information I shoved at him. After several moments of tense silence, he deflated. "I may not like the Titan lord's ways, but the gods can't keep ignoring their children. Have you seen all the unclaimed kids in my cabin? No one should have to go through that."

"I can change that _—_ I _have_ changed that."

Luke spun around, his blue eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, in my time, I made a deal with the gods a year back. They promised to pay more attention to their kids. And there are cabins now for the minor gods, too."

"How do I know you aren't lying?"

I shrugged. "You can't. But trust me, Luke, you don't wanna keep going down the path you're headed for. A lot of good people will get hurt."

Luke sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You really changed, you know that?"

"So, does that mean you reject the dark side? No turning all Darth Vadar on us?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I take it back." Luke rolled his eyes. "But, I guess I won't poison you with scorpion venom now."

I smiled. "That's a relief, 'cause it hurt like Hades the first time."

Shoving his hands into his pockets, the blonde frowned. "The campers aren't going to handle the truth well, are they?"

"Annabeth already knows."

Luke chuckled. "Of course she does. She's too smart for her own good."

"She'll get over it eventually, but it really hurt her. You were her hero, and more importantly, her family."

Luke looked properly ashamed of himself. "Yeah, I screwed up. He got in my head, and I didn't even try to stop him."

I wasn't good with the whole comforting thing, especially with the guy whose bad decisions resulted in a terrible war. But I had to remind myself, this Luke hadn't done all those things yet. Sure, he had stolen two of the most powerful weapons in the world to frame me and start World War III, but that could still be forgiven. He hadn't done something irreversible yet, like say, host the soul of the Lord of the Titans. My beef wasn't with this version of Luke.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, I spoke up. "So, can you untie me now? Sorry for shoving you into a wall and everything."

The nineteen-year-old grabbed Backbiter, using it to cut the ropes around my wrists. Once I was freed, I rubbed my sore upper left arm. "Thanks, man."

Luke nodded. "Chiron will want to speak with you."

"And you should probably talk with Annabeth," I replied.

He scratched his neck. "Yeah, I need to."

After I stretched my limbs to get them working again, I headed for the staircase, eager to get out of the mildewy basement. When there weren't any footsteps behind me, I turned back around. Luke stood exactly where I left him, his hand still clasped around Backbiter. Part of his face was dark, but I could see some unreadable expression in his eyes.

"You coming?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Just a minute."

I frowned. Maybe we weren't out of the ballpark just yet.

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was basically just two big confrontations, which made it difficult to write (another reason why I took so long to update). I had to start over because I** **didn't like how I first had it. Did you guys like it? Originally, Annabeth was't going to figure out about the whole Luke thing, but then she was just too smart for that. Also, did anyone feel like Luke switched over to the light side too easily? Don't worry, like Percy said, we aren't out of the ballpark yet. Maybe it might call for a Luke POV sometime soon? (And yes, I had to throw in a Star Wars reference, because the seventh episode came out, and how can you not reference Star Wars when there's a character called Luke?)**

 **The dream that Percy had is mostly paraphrased directly from the first chapter of The Last Olympian. Luke's reasons for joining Kronos are also partially taken from the scene in The Lightning Thief when Luke betrays Percy.**

 **If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to send me a PM or review. I looooove it when you guys share your opinions with me, because then I know if I'm doing good/bad and what to do in future chapters. Next chapter we'll visit little Percy and maybe little Annabeth as well.**

 **Until then,**

 **~Wrendsor**


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